Naruto Fanfic- After the war: The Next Generation
by Takimashi
Summary: This story takes place after the war. Daiske and Hideki, the twin sons of Sasuke and Sakura, are extremely close and strong genin prospects. Though Daiske had a set back, he is blind. Now they face a formidable foe that could destroy everything they had thought to be true. Only with the help from a rain genin, Hoku, can they regain what they once had. (chapter 13 is up now)


As a disclaimer, I do not own the anime or manga Naruto or the characters from the actual show. And as of now, the last chapter to the story is not finished and there will be more coming! (chapter 17 is on now! ^^)

Prologue:

A Sword and a Shield

Many years ago, before any of the ninja villages existed among the lands, a sword of gold rose from the pits of hell that could re-animate the dead and take control of the living. This sword was made from pure gold with a handle from the purest of silver any person could find. A man had found the sword near the mouth of a volcano as it sat with its blade piercing the earth. This man was greedy and knew the sword would be worth millions, so he took it and kept it as his own. The sword stayed in his possession for many years, hidden, till one day, he heard a knock on the door. Being the friendly person he truly was, he opened the door wide open and stepped out with a smile and his hands held out as if he was waiting for a hug. Suddenly, a kunai pierced his heart and he fell to the floor. The man that had killed him was a rogue ninja that had resorted to thievery to get what he needed to live. The thief ran into the house and ransacked the place in search of anything that might hold even the slightest value. After an hour of searching, he came across a secret room. The only thing in the room was a safe that was in the wall. The lock on it was sturdy but the thief could see that the door to the safe was rusted and beat as if others had tried to get inside it as well. He inspected the safe closely for any weak spots but could find none; however, he refused to give up. It was obvious to him that whatever was in that safe was high in value, so high it would be obvious it had to be kept locked up. He tried prying it open but it wouldn't budge and he couldn't break the code either. Finally he lashed out in frustration and grabbed at his head harshly.

He decided he had to try something else. For years he'd been studying magic spells and had just the spell to open the safe with. In order to create this spell, he took out chalk he carried in his bag and drew a large pentagram on the wooden floor in front of the safe and lit candles on each point of the pentagram. He sat with his legs crisscrossed in front of him and held his hands as if holding something on his lap. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before muttering words to open the safe with the forces of life and death. All of a sudden, the safe exploded and a sword of gold flew out of the hole in the wall. The thief jumped up into the air and swung around to look at it. He couldn't believe what he saw. The sword glowed brilliantly with a pulsating light. He then grabbed the sword and ran off with it, running far from that place.

Weeks later, he was sitting in front of a grave with his mother's name engraved in the stone. He laid the sword before the stone and bowed to it.

"Mother," he said solemnly. "I told you I'd come back with something that had value greater than any other thing in this world. I swore on your deathbed I would, and this sword is it. If only you were still alive…"

No sooner than he mumbled the words that the sword began to shake and rise from the ground. A new light gleamed from the blade as it pointed toward the earth and plummeted down, slicing the ground in two. When the ground opened, his mother's body lifted out of its casket to stand before the thief. He looked at his mother's face in awe and slight fear. He didn't understand what had just happened, but he felt oddly happy. After a couple moments of trying to piece the pieces together, he looked down at the sword in astonishment. This sword could raise the dead? It was unbelievable to him. He picked up the sword with a smile at his mother's now-risen body. He pointed the blade toward her and gave her a command to go with him. He walked away from the grave and she followed him all the way to his hideout. Excitement raced through him and he began testing out the swords abilities by bringing more people back to life and commanding them to do as he says. The thief made his pawns go on missions to kill shinobi from the clans that were under war and soon he became obsessed with his new power. His death toll rose into the thousands and he became so consumed, he began to fear what he had become. As he got older, his actions caught up with him to the point he vowed to never let that kind of power fall into another's hands.

In order to do this, he placed a curse on the sword, a curse that would kill anyone to so much as touch the sword unless they were of his lineage. Almost 50 years later, the sword had become well-known in the world, though rarely spoken of, for being the Sword of The Dead. And after years of carnage, a man, who had become obsessed with finding the sword, built a shield with a crest in the center that also stood as a spell. The spell would make it so you could control the sword without dying. He did this solely for the reason of protecting himself from the possibility of the sword killing him off. This spell he had come across after researching the different jutsus he knew that raised the dead and the possible magical concoctions that had created the swords ability to protect it. After throwing away anything that didn't make sense and keeping what he thought of as helpful, he finally came across the one spell that could counter the curse of the sword.

When the shield was finally finished, he found the hiding place of the sword. But as he neared the sword, he stopped and just stared at the golden blade and the silver handle in awe and knew he couldn't do it. He knew he had to help the sword stay out of the hands of evil so he left it in that deep, dark cave it had been placed in years before. Till the day he died, he kept his shield safe and tucked away, out of the hands of anyone who wanted to take it out of greed and power. Though when he died, he passed it down to his son. His son promised to guard the shield with his life and so had the rest of the family while he was on his deathbed. Ever since, the shield had stayed under the protection of the family; while the sword stayed hidden, waiting for the right person to come along.

Years past and now the sword has found its rightful owner; a shinobi of the leaf named Takimashi. Her family line protected this sword for many years and now, she's the one to protect it from the evil in our world today.

Chapter One

Sasuke and Sakura

He ran through the woods. The winding trail seemed to go on for ages, continuously etching itself through the woods. Behind him, the sounds of his pursuers came after him swiftly, calling his name. He finally came to a clearing where he stopped to confront them.

His pursuers all wore dark hoods that made it impossible to see their true faces. His expression was full of fear and he coward in front of them. Suddenly, their eyes went from different colors to all a satin purple that swirled like a mystical fog clouding their eyes. In the center of their eyes, they had what looked like two pentagrams overlapping with Japanese symbols surrounding their pupils and a dark ring around the stars. He didn't know who they were or what this power was, but he was suddenly plummeting through a dark abyss that seemed to never end. In the darkness, he could see an outline of another person. The person began to turn around slowly toward him…

Sasuke whipped up from his sleep and looked around nervously. He couldn't tell where he was for a split second before he realized he was just in his room, his wife curled up beside him. He looked at her with a sigh of relief then lowered himself back down beside her still sleeping body. He draped an arm over her bare shoulders lightly and stroked her shoulder length pink hair. He tried to forget the dream, but instead lay in bed for the rest of the two hours before she would awaken thinking about what the dream could have meant and who that man had been.

After two long hours, the sun finally rose and she began to stir. "Sasuke…" she moaned contently and smiled at him, her green eyes staring into his.

"Good morning, Sakura," he answered her happily, kissing her lips that were already up to his. After he had re-joined the village, he had begun to realize how much she had meant to him and how much he'd missed her. Every day, they had started to regain their previous relationship and even fell further into each other. After two years, they had finally gotten married and now lived together in an apartment complex near the center of town.

The sweet memories of the evening before raced through his mind and made him want it to continue, but he couldn't. He let himself lay there till Sakura got up. He looked down her skinny body as she sat on the side of the bed, looking out at the sunny day.

"You have a mission starting today, right?" she asked him, turning her head to him. "You better get ready for it."

Her smile warmed him and he sighed then kissed her lips again. "I do, we'll be back in a couple days at most. We just have to get these two people home then come back. It's a half a day's travel to get there so we won't be gone long; plus there's a slim chance anything's going to happen."

"I hope you're right, good luck," she got up from the bed and got dressed into a plane red shirt and black shorts.

Sasuke took her lead and began to dress as well. He dressed in his normal wear; a white, open shirt and black sweat pants. Instead of the rope, though, he wore a simple black belt that held his sword. On his feet he wore his ninja sandals and his hidden leaf forehead protector was tied to his right leg around his thigh. After getting his clothes, he gathered some of his other ninja tools before grabbing a bite to eat in the kitchen where Sakura had made him a small breakfast of just toast and sausage. And before he left, he kissed her lips once more.

She didn't seem to want to let him go as she hugged him closely and deepened the kiss upon his lips. He managed to break the kiss and she let him go. "You be careful, ok? And please make sure you all make it back safely."

He chuckled and smiled at her. "I promise, we'll all get back safely. Kakashi, Sai, Takimashi and I will be back in a few days tops." This seemed to calm her and she gave a final farewell before he walked out of the house to go on his mission.

Being in the village again had made him feel more relaxed and released the tension he'd felt in his heart. The hatred he had felt before was replaced with a kind of humble feeling and he'd managed to accept what had happened in the past. He looked toward the sky, wondering how Itachi was doing in heaven now that he was finally laid to rest after being released from the Edo Tensei.

After a few minutes, he met the others at the meeting place where they would depart from the village. They all stood in front of the gate, everyone except (as always) Kakashi. Takimashi, the new addition to the team since Naruto had been named Hokage after Tsunade was finally able to retire, was there already and she'd only been on the team for a month. But he knew he shouldn't be too surprised since it was normal for Kakashi to be late. Takimashi was a very attractive woman with long, caramel brown hair that fell over her shoulders and bangs that framed the left side of her face. Her body was well proportioned with flawless skin and sky blue eyes. She liked to wear a black, sleeveless belly shirt that had a V-neck collar that showed her cleavage perfectly and black, leathery pants that clung slightly to her legs. Then on her arms, she wore fingerless gloves that extended to her elbows while on her neck she had a black choker; her leaf village forehead protector strapped to her waist. All this fit perfectly to her slim, stealthy looking body and made her look dangerous and manipulative. But in reality, she was just a fun, outgoing girl that seemed to smile all the time and didn't have a care in the world.

No one really knew of her past and she kept it secret except for a couple details. Like both her parents were dead and she kept a locket her mother gave her before she died in a jewelry box near her bed. And even though she never carried it, she keeps an ancient, magical sword hidden in a safe somewhere in her house. The sword had been in her family line for generations and she had been sworn to keep it safe from prying hands. She never brought it up and rarely admitted such a sword existed in her home.

"Well, here's Sasuke. Now where's Kakashi?" she asked jokingly. "I'm sure these two would love to be getting home now."

"Now, now Takimashi, let's not be getting too hasty," a voice from behind them said.

Everyone turned to see Kakashi and once they said their hellos, they were off on their mission. On this mission, they were to protect a mother and son on their way back home. The father had been killed by ninja four years earlier and had made them weary of traveling alone since. The two were scared that since their loving father and husband was dead, the ninja would be back to take them out too. While on this mission, their job was to simply see them back to the safety of their home and make sure all is well then return to the leaf. And even though the chances of them being attacked were slim to none, the shinobi made sure to be watchful and ready for combat if enemies should arise. They traveled till noon when they stopped for some food before continuing to head to their home. The restaurant they went to was a barbeque place and they ordered pork and chicken to split. As they ate, Sasuke looked around at the crowed of people in the building and spotted two men sitting alone, cloaks around their bodies and hiding their faces. Memories of his dream flooded back to him and he looked at the wife and son sitting amongst him and his teammates. Just as he looked at the mother and child, one of the hooded men stood up and came to their table. Everyone stopped eating at once and looked at the man who stared at the mother intently. Kakashi was the first to speak.

"May we help you with something?" his voice was kind but an undertone of suspicion snuck into his voice as well. The unsettling feeling Sasuke felt was mutual between his team as well.

One moment, the man is standing there staring at the woman, the next he's jumping toward her with a kunai held out and aimed at her chest. Takimashi, who was closest to her, acted quickly and jumped forward as well, blocking his kunai with her sword. Within seconds the place was in an uproar as everyone fled the building. The other man joined in and the leaf ninja retaliated. Takimashi and Kakashi kept clinging weapons with the attackers as Sasuke and Sai got the mother and son out of the place and away from danger.

"Why aren't they coming out? Where are Takimashi and Kakashi?" Sai asked worriedly.

Sasuke shook his head in confusion just as the wall of the building collapsed. Sasuke's heart began to pound as the other two were still in the building. Sai looked at it in shock. Neither of them knew how this had happened but decided it would be better to wait and find out later; they needed to get the wife and son away as fast as possible. "Sai, we need to go. They're our mission; we need to get them to safety."

Sai hadn't liked how Sasuke had talked to him, but wasn't quite sure how to express it. Since Danzo had died years before, Sai's been able to show his emotions again and was slowly starting to get the hang of it. On the other hand, he didn't like Sasuke much to begin with after what he did to their friends and allies. Also, he couldn't quite understand why Sakura had stayed with Sasuke and married him, no less. So, he'd learned to deal with the fact that love made people do weird things and chose to let it die.

The four of them began to flee from the area, Sai and Sasuke keeping a careful eye on the area around them. Moments later, Kakashi and Takimashi finally managed to catch up. Both of them looked a little battered, but other than that they were fine.

"Those two aren't dead, but we managed to get away. We need to cover our trail," Takimashi reported and she stopped to stand on the trail they were going down; the others stopped as well. She bit her thumb so it would begin to bleed then she performed the hand seal sequence for the Summoning jutsu before hitting her hand to the ground and summoning a large, black bird with red wings; a red winged black bird named Takemara.

"Oh, Takimashi; you summoned me just as I was waking up from a nap," Takemara said in a soft voice.

"Great timing then, I guess," Takimashi replied with a laugh then looked at the others. "I'll create a diversion; get them away from the trail. You guys take them and get them out of here."

They all nodded in agreement before Takimashi jumped onto Takemara's back, sitting just behind the bird's neck. Takemara beat her wings and lifted off into the air, flying back toward the town. While she and Takemara flew away, Kakashi, Sai and Sasuke took the mother and son and began heading toward their home.

Takemara flew quickly toward the town. She surveyed the area in search of the hooded men; she found them only a mile out of the town and following the others. "Alright, Takemara, that's them." Takemara made a squawking noise, which made the men look up, and lowered herself near them. They both looked at Takimashi in anger.

"You're that woman from back at that barbeque place. If you know what's good for you, you'll run back to your precious Konoha and leave us to take the mother and child," one of them warned her.

Takimashi laughed as if he'd told her the funniest joke ever and only shook her head. "I'll never do such a thing. On the contrary, if you know what's better for you, you'll leave those two people be before one of you gets hurt."

The two men looked at each other then jumped toward Takimashi. She rolled her eyes and tapped Takemara with her left foot, signaling her to start beating her wings toward the two people, creating a gust of wind that knocked them off their feet. Then Takimashi tapped Takemara with her other foot and Takemara called out loudly, flames rising from her beak as the red tint in her feathers began to glow. The bird swiveled her head from one side to the other and the flames quickly set the grass ablaze, creating a wall of fire the two men wouldn't be able to get around.

"Now, if you two gentlemen don't mind, I've got a mission to take care of," Takimashi said mockingly before Takemara rose back into the air and flew away. First they were going the wrong direction to make it look like that's where the others had gone, and then turned toward the actual direction of the others as soon as they were out of sight.

Within moments, they had returned to the others who had stopped a little farther ahead from the place she'd left them. "They should be held up for a while; they've kind of got themselves stuck behind a… wall so to say."

Kakashi and Sai laughed while Sasuke rolled his eyes. This woman was the type he just couldn't understand. The way she spoke, laughed, fought, all of it surprised him no matter how long he's known her. Finally Takemara went back to the summoning world and the shinobi made their way to the woman and son's house where they had a small meeting about what had just happened.

"We're going to have to report this to Naruto, we can't return home just yet," Kakashi told them. "Sai or Takimashi, could one of you send a note to the intelligence core? Tell them we were attacked, who attacked us, that we're going to have to stay longer, and none of us are seriously injured."

"I'll send it, Takimashi already summoned once so it's my turn to do something," Sai offered then started drawing up a messenger bird and making the note to send it to the village. He used his jutsu on the drawing then attached the message to the bird before sending it off to the village.

The next morning, they all sat at the table while the mother made them breakfast. Once it was all at the table, she called her son back in from tending their small garden and they all began to eat.

"This food tastes wonderful, ma'am," Kakashi said with a smile. Kakashi had his mask lowered while he ate and everyone looked at him in wonder. It was rare Kakashi had his mask down so they were all a bit surprised.

The woman giggled. "Thank you."

"So why were those men after you?" Sai asked all of a sudden, making the woman look at him while biting her lip nervously.

"I suppose you should know since you're here to protect us. There's this ancient shield that has been passed down from generation to generation in our family; we protect it now. I don't know how much you may have heard of it, but it's known as The Golden Death Shield."

No sooner had the woman spoke its name, Takimashi's head shot up toward the woman in shock. Everyone stared at her questioningly. She made sure to recover herself quickly and smiled as if she hadn't just been shocked at the name of the shield.

"Sorry, had a cold chill; that's all," Takimashi said with a laugh. "So, go on?"

The woman looked at her suspiciously before continuing. "It's said to be able to allow anyone to use a special, ancient, demon sword that supposedly kills anyone who touches it and isn't part of a certain family line. We have reason to believe that these men want to steal the shield so they can use the sword. If they get hold of the shield, this world could be in grave danger once again."

Takimashi's head raced with hundreds of questions, one question sticking out the most. "What's this sword you speak of? Why is it so important?"

The woman swallowed nervously and she looked at her son who nodded encouragingly. "This sword can raise and control the dead. It can split the land in two as if the land was simply butter and raise armies far greater than the five shinobi village alliance that took out Madara."

Takimashi nodded and looked at the table while the others shook their heads.

"That's not good. We can't have another battle like that, it'll destroy us," Kakashi said.

"Exactly why that shield can't get in their hands," the woman told him. "But honestly, I don't think my son and I have the strength to keep it hidden."

"We'll have to figure something out. Maybe you could bring the shield to Konoha, we could protect it there," Sasuke said. Everyone nodded in agreement, even the son, but the mother shook her head.

"I don't know if I can do that, I can't just drop everything and leave," she retaliated.

Just as Sasuke was about to retaliate back, the son stood up and looked at his mother. "Mom, I think it's best if we cooperate. As you said, we don't have the strength to keep it protected much longer. We don't have anything tying us down here, so I say we should go."

The mom sighed. "Alright, but let us stay here another night to get our belongings together."

"That's perfectly fine, we understand," Kakashi told her soothingly. He took the last couple bites of his breakfast then slid his mask back into place.

A couple minutes later, when everyone was done eating, a messenger hawk from the village flew to the kitchen windowsill and made a squawking noise that alerted everyone of its arrival. The son was the first one to get to the hawk so he took off the letter strapped to its leg and gave it to Kakashi who read it out loud to everyone.

"It says that Naruto agrees we should stay longer and do whatever we need to do to keep the mother and son safe. It also says P.s., Sakura wanted Sasuke to know that she's…" Kakashi paused and looked at Sasuke in shock.

"Wh…what is it? Is she ok?" he asked, jumping at Kakashi to snatch the paper away. He read the last word on the page over and over as it sunk in.

"What is it, Sasuke?" Takimashi asked. Kakashi was stuck for words so he kept his mouth shut and stared at Sasuke.

"She's pregnant… we're going to have a baby…" he said in almost a whisper. Everyone looked at him and the house was completely quiet as the news sunk in. Sakura was pregnant, the Uchiha lineage was about to be reborn.

The next day, the team along with the mother and son made their way to Konoha, the shield sealed away temporarily in a scroll. The journey back home was quiet without any interference by attackers. Sasuke couldn't stop thinking about what Sakura's pregnancy meant. His clan was being revived with the baby on the way and his family was alive again, no matter how small it was. Kakashi would ask him how he was from time to time to make sure he wasn't freaking out too much.

"This is a big step for you, Sasuke. You're bringing your clan back and keeping the Uchiha name alive. But I wouldn't worry too much, I'm sure you're gonna do great," Kakashi told him at one point.

Sasuke smiled shyly and nodded. "Thanks, Kakashi."

That evening they arrived back in the village. The son and mother would stay in a motel for a couple days and the shield was taken to a secret room hidden safely underneath the hokage's tower. Sasuke returned home as soon as he could and found Sakura sitting in the kitchen reading a book. When she heard his footsteps coming toward her she stood up and turned to hug him. Then she kissed his lips delicately and looked at him. He looked back with a smile and embraced her again, putting a hand against her stomach gently.

Nine months later, twin Uchiha boys were born, both with dark hair. They named the first boy Hideki and the other, Daiske. Only one thing made it easy to remember which was which, Daiske was blind in both eyes.

Chapter Two

Thirteen Years Later

Daiske was late getting up. He realized this when he got down stairs and he couldn't sense anyone in the house. He couldn't hear a single voice or even a foot step. He looked around for Hideki, trying to sense any trace of him at all that he could find in the house, but nothing. He couldn't find his father or his mother. Where had they gone? He began to panic and rushed toward the way he knew was the door to the outside. Just as he opened the door, Sakura walked up the stairs and he ran into her before he could stop.

"Oh, Daiske, why aren't you at school?" she asked him.

"No one woke me up," he answered her.

Sakura shook her head. This had happened many times before, Sasuke forgetting that she couldn't take Daiske to the academy early like she used to. Each time he'd left Daiske, Daiske would get nervous and loose his senses before Sakura could get home to him. She decided to take Daiske to the academy herself so she led him there. Today was their final test before they'd be sent out into the real world and Daiske was ready for it. He was blind, but he had never let that put him down and he tried as hard as he could to do the best he can at the academy. Throughout his child hood, they had put him through special training to help him improve his other senses. He could feel another's chakra without creating hand signs, but it took him a while. Also, his sense of smell was more advanced than most genin, leveling almost on the same level as one of the Inuzuka clan's younger shinobi. And his hearing was perfect. He could hear the slightest murmur from around 20 meters away. It wasn't as advanced as it could be, but he trained his senses as much as he could without over doing it. Every day he practiced his sense control and his chakra control. If he passed the exam, Daiske would start training to feel vibrations from the energy around him.

When Daiske got into the building and the classroom, everyone was sitting already and only one chair was empty, the one next to his brother, Hideki. Iruka looked up as Sakura and Daiske entered then stood up to confront them.

"What happened?" he asked in a whisper.

"Really sorry, Iruka, Sasuke forgot to take Daiske with him when he brought Hideki," Sakura explained.

Iruka sighed then handed Daiske one of the written exams. This one was made especially for him because it had the words written in raised symbols that he could feel to read. Once he had the paper, Iruka showed Daiske to the seat that was left open next to Hideki and Sakura left to go back home. Hideki looked at his brother for a brief second, his side bangs hiding his eyes from people around him. Hideki had side bangs that framed the sides of his face like Sasuke's and the hair in the back was cut short, close to his head; it had a shaggy look to it. He wore a dark colored shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back and black sweat pants while Daiske wore an off-white shirt emblazed with the symbol on the sleeves and dark colored pants. Daiske's dark hair was kept so it was slightly long with bangs covering his forehead and hung a little past his eyes; it was slightly messy in one of those attractive hair styles like how Hideki's hair was.

He went through the questions with little trouble and finished a little later than Hideki. As everyone else in the room finished their exams, Hideki whispered to Daiske "Sorry we left you, I tried getting dad to wait a little longer but he insisted that mom had taken you already."

"It's alright, I still got here before it was too late," Daiske whispered back.

"Boys, I know you're done but you still need to stay quiet till the others finish," Iruka told them, not even looking up to see who was talking.

Hideki was at the top of the class like his father had been before him. He studied hard and practiced his ninjutsu at home every night after school. Deep inside him, he'd always felt a little jealous at how Daiske got all this special training just because he was blind. And sometimes, he even felt slightly tossed to the side by their parents because they had always seemed more concerned about Daiske's future than his. Even though he felt this way, he still always told himself he had been imagining it. Their parents loved both of them just as much and he wanted Daiske to be able to fight just as much as they.

Hideki laughed to himself at the memory of when his mother had sworn to the council that Daiske would be able to fight just as well as everyone else; she even held a bet that if they couldn't get Daiske so he could tell another's location by sensing them within two weeks, they would agree to take Daiske out of the ninja academy. He remembered that time perfectly…

It was the middle of summer. The sun had risen far into the sky and Daiske, Sasuke, Sakura and Hideki were all in the training area near the pond just outside where the old Uchiha clan had lived. Hideki stayed at the water's edge and practiced his fire ball jutsu while Sasuke and Sakura worked with Daiske. All was well until the three eldest council members and Naruto showed up with the news.

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you keep Daiske in the academy, it's too dangerous for him," the woman council member told Sakura.

Sakura would have none of it. Before telling them off, she looked over at where Sasuke was showing Daiske the hand signs for the chakra sensing technique. She knew he could do it and didn't care what they said. She looked back at them and said, "You will do no such thing! Daiske is just as capable as everyone else, I know he is."

The commotion made the others look over. Then when Daiske realized what was going, a look of horror crossed his face. What was she up to now? It wasn't the first time she'd bet on an almost impossible task before and much like Tsunade, her gambling skills were horrible.

"Dad?... What is she doing?" he asked in a shaky voice.

"Umm… well… it looks like she's about to make a bet again," he told him, a look of morbid dread crossing his face.

"GIVE HIM TWO WEEKS! HE WILL BE ABLE TO MASTER THIS JUTSU BY THEN!" Sakura yelled.

The council members shook their heads but Naruto couldn't hold himself back from snickering at Sakura's enthusiasm over this bet.

"You are one crazy, girl, you know that? He'll never be able to master it by then," the other council member said.

"He will, just you wait and see!" Sakura exclaimed before they left.

Sakura watched them leave, fuming, before turning around to Daiske and Sasuke then walking briskly toward them. "You will be able to do it, Daiske. I have faith in you."

For the next two weeks, after the academy, Daiske trained with the jutsu an hour a day. First they worked on getting him to make the hand sign and conjuring his chakra throughout his body. As he kept practicing, he could feel his senses becoming sharper and his chakra began radiating through his body to make his energy vibrations rise in strength and reach out to others. Once he could start sensing another's chakra through his rise in energy vibrations, they started teaching him to place chakra with location and by the end of the two weeks, he could finally do it; though he couldn't do it without the hand sign. And when the day finally came, Daiske was confident he would prove them wrong.

"Ok, Sakura, let's see if you can put your money where your mouth is," the female council member told her before walking forward to take her place at a make-shift sitting area where the other member sat next to her.

Naruto put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Don't worry, he's going to do great," he said reassuringly with a smile.

"Thanks, Naruto," she answered him.

Daiske stood in the center of the clearing around the pond with Sasuke standing ten feet in front of him. Daiske faced his father with his eyes looking down toward the ground. Sasuke looked at Daiske and took a deep breath. He was more nervous than Daiske and hoped he could detect where he stood when they started. His gaze stayed on Daiske as he couldn't believe this was his son, a boy that has come so far but was still so young. He knew that Daiske would surly become a great shinobi one day and didn't care that there were so many odds against him. Also, he knew Daiske was able to do anything as long as he kept working for it. This kid may be blind, but he was talented and as long as Daiske wanted to keep going further with his training, he would keep training him and wouldn't give up.

"Ok, Daiske, you ready?" Sasuke asked Daiske.

"I'm ready," Daiske said after he took a deep breath to calm his nerves that were suddenly arising.

The council members nodded and they were ready to start. First, Daiske would conjure his chakra throughout his body, aiming toward his four senses, and creating the hand sign. He could feel his hearing become more acute, his sense of smell become more distinct, and his energy vibrations become stronger while reaching out and away from his body. It wasn't too strong, but he could still tell where everyone was. With what he could gather, he painted a picture in his mind. The council and everyone else stood just on the outside of the clearing fifty feet away and he could feel the energy around Sakura the easiest seeming as she was becoming more and more stressed.

"Mom, calm down. Everything is going to be fine," Daiske told her, smiling and looking her way.

Everyone stared at him in surprise then at Sakura who had a complexion of worry throughout her face. They could hardly believe he knew she was so nervous. Daiske smiled and Sasuke chuckled.

"Nice, Daiske. Now, where am I?" Sasuke asked.

"You're around ten feet in front of me; I can feel your energy centered in that area."

Sasuke moved to the right about two feet before jumping into the air to land next to Daiske. Almost as soon as Sasuke landed, Daiske stepped away five steps to the left then turned to him. No sound had come from Sasuke's movement and everyone knew it. The council members started murmuring to each other in hushed voices.

Then one of them spoke up. "Can he fight using this? He needs to be able to counter the movements too."

Sakura became annoyed at this comment. "He's only six years old! He can fight with it, but just like any other student at the academy, he's still learning. But this should prove to you that he can do it, he just needs to keep training." Sakura might not be the best shinobi fighter, but when it came to her sons, she was fiery and would not back down. She knew what her son was capable of, he was Uchiha after all and they were well known for their strength, he was no different.

They spoke to each other again before Naruto stood up to announce the decision. "Daiske will stay in the academy to keep training. When he graduates, we'll see if he's fit to fight," he said, everyone else leaving. He walked to Sakura and grinned. "I knew he could do it, he's going to be a great shinobi and everyone better believe it!"

Sakura giggled. "Thanks, Naruto. He will be, I have faith in him."

Hideki leaned back in his seat and smiled to himself. His brother was advancing well in his training since that day and the council hasn't tried taking him down since. But what was going to happen when they graduate?

When everyone was done with the written part, it was now time for the jutsu test. In order to pass this part, they had to create two shadow clones and transform into Iruka. It didn't sound hard, but for some of the students it would be. For Hideki, this was going to be a cinch, but for Daiske, it would be difficult if not impossible. How was he supposed to transform into something he couldn't see? What was he going to do?

Hideki was to go in before Daiske. He sat quietly and waited for his name to be called. Daiske, on the other hand, couldn't stop squirming nervously in his seat. He felt as if his heart was going to burst out of his chest. Even though the descriptions he'd been given through the years would help, he wasn't too confident that his transformation would look very good.

"Hideki, can you tell me again what Iruka sensei looks like?"

Hideki sighed and looked at his brother. The look on Daiske's face was of pure horror at what he was about to have to do. "He has brown hair in a ponytail high on his head, the leaf forehead protector on his forehead, a green shinobi vest with multiple compartments for weapons and such, blue shirt underneath with dark blue sweat pants, a scar over the bridge of his nose, dark eyes, and ninja sandals."

"Ok, good…. What if I forget what the colors look like? I mean, I've had descriptions about what it could look like but I can't figure out if it really looks like that or not… What if I fail? All that training down the drain…"

Hideki chuckled. "Relax, you're going to do fine. So what if you don't look exactly like him when you transform? Everyone has a weakness."

"Yeah, but I have a huge weakness, I'm blind! I can't see anything!"

"Daiske, stop being such a worry wart, everything will be ok."

Daiske sighed in exasperation and let his head rest on his arms. He didn't know how Hideki could be so calm about this, their whole future is at stake. A moment later, Hideki was called in. Daiske's nervousness sky rocketed when he listened to Hideki leaving to go into the other room. It was so close to his turn.

Hideki walked calmly into the other room, looking back at Daiske for a moment before going in. He understood what he was so worried about; the transformation spell wasn't his strong point. Who knew, though, they might let Daiske transform into anything because of his blindness. But that wasn't what he needed to worry about; he had other things he had to focus on. As he walked in, the door closed behind him and he looked toward the instructors sitting at the long table that had several forehead protectors lined up in columns before them. The three men, Iruka sitting in the middle, smiled at him and Iruka was the one to speak.

"Hideki Uchiha, you are to create two kage bunshins and transform into me in order to pass; understand?" he told him.

Hideki nodded. "I understand."

"Alright," Iruka said, nodding for him to go.

Hideki took a breath then let it out, making the hand sign and summoning his chakra in his body. "Shadow clone jutsu." After he spoke the words, two clones that looked exactly like him appeared next to him. Their chakra natures were exact replicas of the original as well. Next, he performed the transformation jutsu. This was perfect as well and looked perfectly like Iruka.

Iruka nodded and smiled. "Just like your father, Hideki. Great job; you pass."

Hideki smiled, his calm exposure exploding as he punched his fist into the air and yelled out in excitement.

Iruka laughed loudly with his head bent back as Hideki calmed down again and looked away. "Ok, maybe not exactly like your father." Iruka said, handing him the forehead protector.

Hideki left the room and bounded up to Daiske. "I passed!" he exclaimed happily.

"Congrats," Daiske said in a small voice. It was his turn, now.

Suddenly the room went quiet as Daiske stood to go in the other room. Hushed murmurs were the only sound. He ignored them and focused on making his way to the room, feeling the ground with each foot fall. As he walked, he could feel the vibrations of the room. In the center, the vibrations were large, but as he neared the door, they became smaller since he was approaching a solid object. He felt on the door till he found the handle then opened it and stepped in, letting it close behind him. Even though he couldn't see, he could hear the instructors breathing and he knew they were in front of him, sitting in chairs probably at a table with the forehead protectors on it.

Iruka looked at Daiske, worried about how this would turn out. The kid's blindness made it harder for him than anyone else to learn these types of techniques. The transformation jutsu was his downfall but his clones were great. But he knew this wouldn't be his only test and wouldn't be the test he would really need to worry about. The council had another test for him in mind and that would truly be the one to determine what path his life would take.

"Ok, Daiske. You have to create two kage bunshins and transform. For you, we have agreed to let you transform into anything you'd like as long as it takes some kind of form and is something real," Iruka told him.

Daiske was a little more relieved about this and nodded. Iruka told him to go, and Daiske first created the hand sign to make his kage bunshin. Two replicas that looked almost exactly like him, except a couple minor details, and had the exact chakra signatures as the original. Next, he did his transformation. He thought for a moment to decide what to change into and his mother popped into his head. He could remember the features of her face and the feel of her body from the times she's hugged him; her body structure and her short hair that he's been told was pink with green eyes. He decided to transform into her and did just that. His transformation wasn't perfect, but it still looked like her in the body and face.

Iruka looked at the transformation, pleased with what he sees. He knew his decision, but first he had to see what the others thought before he announced it. After a moment of discussion over what they'd just saw, they finally came to a conclusion.

Iruka looked at Daiske and smiled. "We have decided. Daiske, congratulations, you pass," he said.

It took a moment for Daiske to realize what he had just said. The initial surprise had him mostly speechless. But once it sank in, he couldn't contain himself. He bounded forward, tripping as he did so and fell into the table only to be caught by Iruka's hands.

Iruka chuckled. "Easy there, Daiske."

Daiske laughed and grinned. Iruka tied it on his forehead for him and let him go. Daiske nearly ran out the door and accidentally barreled into someone he didn't notice in his excitement.

"Watch where you're going!" a female voice yelled.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…" Daiske trailed off and got off her, helping her up.

The girl looked at him in shock when she realized who it was. "Oh, Daiske. No, no it's fine." She felt bad for yelling at him, it wasn't his fault he couldn't see, he was blind.

The girl's name was Imahi Inuzuka. She had long, light brown hair and brown eyes and wore a red kimono top with white flowers on her sides with a black skirt that went to the middle of her thighs. She was the next to go in.

Daiske apologized to her again then went to sit next to Hideki after she was called in. Hideki looked at Daiske and smiled delightfully; slight i-told-you-so flitting over his eyes.

"You passed, that's great!" he exclaimed.

Daiske turned his head to Hideki and grinned. "I know, it's so cool!"

Hideki laughed at shook his head. He could never understand fully how his brother was always so happy and carefree even though his future as a shinobi looked bleak. Also, he knew Daiske would never give up his dream. The dream he had was a great one and something to keep striving for even though his chances were slim. All thanks to Naruto, Daiske has found the dream he will never let go of. That dream, was to become none other than, the Hokage.

Chapter Two

Sensei and the Ultimate Test

Daiske and Hideki woke up at the same time, early, a week later on the day when teams would be assigned. Both boys ran to their parent's room, burst through the door, and jumped on the bed where their father lay still asleep. Their mother had had to leave earlier that morning to take care of business at the hospital so their father was the one left to take care of both of them. Sasuke whipped up, pushing Hideki and Daiske off of him, and jumped toward the wall in surprise. "Oh, Hideki, Daiske… you scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry but we have more pressing matters. We're getting assigned to teams!" Daiske exclaimed in excitement.

Sasuke looked from Daiske to Hideki then laughed and shook his head in amusement. "You two are something else. Especially you, Hideki. One moment you're just like me and the next you're all hyped up and crazy like you're on twenty energy drinks." He then walked to the door and walked out to the kitchen. He waited for the boys; both of them running to the kitchen table, Daiske nearly falling, before he started making them breakfast. Nostalgia raced through Sasuke's mind as he remembered this day for himself. It had been much different, especially since he hadn't been able to spend the morning with either of his parents or brother. And the team, team seven, he had been assigned to had seemed merely just as a temporary fix to help him get to the strength he needed to defeat Itachi. But even though this was his mind set, he still couldn't stop himself from becoming close to his teammates. Kakashi was the one to keep him going, fighting; Naruto had become his closest friend and the one to knock sense back into him when he kept falling into the dark. If Naruto hadn't have kept fighting for him, he would have never gotten the chance to live the way he was now with a family of his own. And then there was Sakura, the nuisance that became his lover, his wife, and the mother to his sons. It was amazing how his life had been affected by them and how grateful he was now to have friends like them. Every one of them had helped him discover who he was and that there was a better way for him.

Sasuke turned back toward them, giving them their breakfast and sat down to eat as well. Hideki and Daiske couldn't stop talking about what was going on today and reminded him of he and his brother when they'd been closer, talking about what was going on in their life. A sudden rush of remorse for his lost brother rushed through his body; it was all he could do to not start breaking down. Times like this happened from time to time and every time, it racked his body and sometimes caused him to burst out in cries and pain at the loss of his brother, the last one of his family to live before his sons. A few times, Sakura ended up having to get Kakashi to cast him under the Mangekyo and force him to sleep. But it wasn't just the loss of Itachi, it was what he'd done and the fact his whole clan was no longer around. Daiske and Hideki would never be able to meet their uncle nor their grandparents, their cousins and other family members.

Sasuke forced those thoughts out of his mind before they took him over. Daiske and Hideki were done eating and changing. Sasuke followed their lead and got on a plane t-shirt and sweat pants then got his sandals on before leaving with his sons. At the academy, he left them to do what they had to do and went to visit an old friend. At the door to his office, Sasuke knocked on the door and a moment later, a voice he knew well welcomed him in.

Naruto looked up to see Sasuke and grinned, standing up and walking around his desk to meet him. "Sasuke. What a surprise! How goes it?"

"Just decided I'd stop by, Hideki and Daiske are at the academy," Sasuke replied, taking a seat in the chair in front of the desk. Naruto walked back around it and sat down.

Ever since Sasuke had come back, everything had seemed to calm down. He also felt over joyed at the fact he finally had his friend back that he'd lost so long ago. Every time he saw him, he still felt nostalgic. Before it seemed just a dream that Sasuke would ever be back in the village. Then when he heard Sasuke mention his two sons and saw how his face brightened up at just a simple mention of them, he knew everything had been worth the fight. Though, he felt the same whenever he thought about his daughter who had graduated the year before them. And yes, he had a daughter now as well. After the war, he'd let himself become close to Hinata and even began to feel a pull toward her. Ever since, they were practically inseparable. Their daughter was named Takeshi and had long, bright, red hair like his mother and bright blue eyes.

For a while, they talked about how they've been and if anything new was happening, just small chit chat. Then after a pause Sasuke leaned forward and looked into Naruto's eyes intently.

"So, anything you might be able to tell me about who my sons' sensei will be?" he asked.

Naruto chuckled and leaned forward in his seat, his elbows in the desk. "You know who it is, you'll recognize her when you see her."

Sasuke rolled his eyes then stood up to leave. "Fine, fine, I'll play your game. And her; huh? That narrows it down a little."

Naruto sat back and smiled, watching Sasuke walk out the door then going back to his paper work. Somehow he knew Sasuke would inquire as to who would be teaching his sons. He also knew that he was most worried about Daiske and if their sensei will be able to help his fighting ability with his blindness. But Naruto was one step ahead (for once in his life) and picked their sensei because he knew she'd be able to make Daiske into a great fighter. He just hoped it would all work out.

Meanwhile at the academy, Hideki and Daiske sat next to each other while they awaited their teams to be called out by number. In front of them, Imahi sat there quietly looking out the window. She turned to see Daiske and smiled brightly.

"Oh Daiske! Didn't see you there at first," She said, moving to sit next to him at the end of the bench.

Daiske turned his head toward her, looking at her with his unseeing eyes. "Imahi, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. You excited to get teams?" she asked enthusiastically.

"I am, I can't wait to meet my sensei either," Daiske replied happily.

Hideki looked over at them and smiled with a slight chuckle and a roll of his eyes. He found it amusing how they both brightened up when they spoke to each other. Daiske wasn't necessarily popular amongst the rest of the class and people tended to avoid him for some reason unbeknownst to them. It made him happy that someone was talking to his brother.

Their chit chat was cut short when Iruka walked in and everyone quieted down and watched him cross the room to his desk. The aura of the room was happy and full of enthusiasm as every genin was excited to get their teams and sensei. Hideki and Daiske both hoped to be in the same group, but knew there was a good chance they wouldn't be. And as Iruka greeted all of them with a smile and hello, their excitement rose even more and they began to fidget in their seats as roll call was announced. Time seemed to drag on for ages before Iruka finally finished and the teams were called out.

"You guys, each and every one of you, are here today because you have graduated from the academy and are moving on to the real world. From here on out, you are going to be put through just about everything you can think of. As genin, you will be assigned to a group of three with a sensei to lead you. You will start off by going on D and C rank missions, the lowest missions you can get, while you learn to hone your skills and find the battle techniques and strategies that work for you. From now on, you are no longer academy students, but official shinobi who will fight to defend and protect our country like many generations before you. Good luck to all of you and may god be with you," Iruka announced, smiling proudly at the group of shinobi before him. "Now, let us begin calling teams."

At once, the excited aura became masked with anticipation. Hideki had hundreds of thoughts racing through his head. He hoped whole heartedly that Daiske would be put in the same team as him. Anyone else would only see him as a set back and would be sure to try and keep Daiske on the side lines, thinking he was too weak to fight. But Hideki knew differently, he knew what Daiske could do and would make sure he had equal responsibility and participation in missions so he could become as strong as he could be.

Daiske too couldn't stop thinking about who he might be paired up with. He knew his blindness would set any team he was placed in back and that it would take him more time than anyone to get stronger and learn new techniques. He also knew that no matter what, he was going to be seen as a hindrance to the teams learning itself. He couldn't watch others movements and techniques to learn, he had to listen and use his location skills to learn new jutsu, which took more time than just being able to see what's going on. These thoughts made him become doubtful. What if he couldn't do it? What if his mother was wrong? What if he failed? But he couldn't let those thoughts run him. He pushed them away as best he could and instead focused on what he knew would happen. He was going to start in on a whole new adventure, go places he had never been before, and finally have the freedom he's wanted for so long. Nothing would stop him from going forward, he wouldn't let it happen.

"Squad five," Iruka said just as Hideki and Daiske started to pay attention again. "Imahi Inuzuka, Hideki Uchiha, and Daiske Uchiha."

Just as that last name was called, Hideki and Daiske jumped out of their seats and high fived each other. "Yes!" they both yelled at the same time. Iruka chuckled in amusement before proceeding with calling out the other groups' members. Daiske and Hideki sat down just as Imahi turned to them with a grin that they both returned. None of them couldn't have asked for a better team.

The boy sat on a bench by the street, remembering all that had happened to him a few years ago. This was the day that it had happened, the worst day of his life that had become reality all those years back. The rain above him fell heavily, as usual, and soaked his clothes clear through. He never could understand why he had to live in a land that always seemed to be crying, but for this day, it fit perfectly. He remembered how it felt to watch his whole clan be wiped away as if they were simply defenseless insects. How could he have done that to his family? What was his motive? These questions and many others raced through his mind repeatedly. Within a few moments, he stood up angrily and walked away from that bench. He felt lonely and tired.

He made his way to the restaurant where his team would meet to go on their mission. While he waited, his thoughts came back again; which angered him. He could hardly contain himself as he punched the wall hard with his fist. The people around him looked in his direction in confusion. But once they realized who it was, they lowered their eyes and looked away. It was only then that he realized it was activated, his ocular kekkei genkai; his Kyakugan. He quickly deactivated it and stared at his feet.

"Hoku! You're here already," A female said as she approached him, their sensei and another boy his age coming from behind her.

"Yeah, I'm here. Let's go," Hoku replied, walking past her carelessly. And they were off on their mission.

Chapter Three

Takimashi

She woke up late. The sun beamed through her window and as soon as she opened her eyes, she jumped out of bed and began to rush. She quickly grabbed her sleeveless black belly shirt with the V-neck collar and her black leathery pants, throwing them onto her body and slipping on her sandals. Since she wouldn't need her weapons today she just kept them in her room. Once out in the kitchen, she grabbed something quick to eat then dashed out the door, stopping just shy from running into Kakashi who stood in front of her; seeming a little stunned at her sudden appearance.

"Oh, Kakashi; so sorry," she said, holding her face with her hands.

He shook his head awkwardly then smiled. "In a hurry, Takimashi?" he asked, putting his hands in his pants pockets.

"Yeah, I got up early and I have to get to the academy. So if you don't mind, I have to go," she told him, walking past him toward the academy.

He caught up to her and walked alongside her. "Excited for your first sensei job?"

She shrugged. "I'm indifferent about it, just unlike you, I hate being late." She looked at him pointedly then laughed when he rolled his eye.

"I'm never late, I just get distracted easy," he shrugged.

Takimashi laughed loudly. "Yeah, sure."

"Glad you agree," he said with a smile, making her turn to him.

"Kakashi, one of these days, I swear," she giggled.

There was a silent pause, and then they started walking again with matching stride. Takimashi and Kakashi were pretty close and tended to spend more time together than they noticed themselves. In fact, they've spent so much time together, Takimashi's the only person to see Kakashi's face more than once. He's even found it easy to tell her just about anything and she couldn't get enough of him. And even though they never said it, they were beginning to feel a pull between themselves.

"So, Takimashi," Kakashi said a few moments later. "For the test you'll have to give your genin. Use my bell training test. It'll be a good way to challenge their teamwork and fighting skills and can even give you a better feel for how the genin work."

Takimashi nodded. "Understood." There was a slight pause before the next thing that came out of her mouth. "Daiske's one of the genin on the team." She looked at Kakashi through her peripheral vision and watched his reaction as his eyes widened slightly and he looked over at her.

"Daiske, huh," he said, lowering his gaze. "Don't take it easy on him, he hates that. If you're gonna challenge his teammates he's going to want to be challenged the same way. He may be blind, but he's not a helpless weakling."

She only nodded as they reached the doors to the academy. They said their goodbyes and she opened the door to go in. Just as she took a step inside, Kakashi grabbed her arm to get her attention.

"One more thing, the sword. Is it still safe?"

"Yeah, no one has tried anything."

Kakashi smiled then let her go. "Good, glad to hear it." Then he left her to what she had to do and she entered the building.

The halls were empty and the academy was silent. She wondered if she was later than she thought and if she was the last sensei to pick up their team when Shikamaru rounded the corner just ahead of her. He smiled and waved at her, meeting her at the corner where they began to walk together to the room their teams were in.

"Well then, surprising to see you here, Takimashi. I thought you didn't want to be a sensei to a team? Said it wasn't your thing."

She shrugged halfheartedly. "Naruto's forced me into it, says to consider it a mission," She replied, putting emphasis on the word 'mission'.

He laughed. "I see. Daiske?"

She looked at him, surprised despite herself. She knew Shikamaru was always a step ahead so it shouldn't have been surprising. He, much like anyone else, knew her expertise in multi-elemental chakra types. So of course he would have suspected as much, that she'd be of most help to Daiske who would need to know different elemental ninjutsu and be able to execute them if he's going to be as strong as he hopes to be.

"Yup, his brother and Imahi, Kiba's daughter, too," Takimashi told him.

He nodded in understanding just as they got to the door. "Well, good luck with them."

She rolled her eyes and opened the door to walk in. "Thanks."

They both entered the room at the same time. Unlike she suspected, there were at least seven teams left in the room. She spotted Hideki and Daiske sitting with a girl she supposed was Imahi by the fact she had the teeth, hair, nails, and eyes of an Inuzuka along with looks much like Kiba and his wife's. She especially showed that same wild look in her eyes and smile. But overall, she was a cutie and easy on the eyes.

"Squad five," she called and all three of them looked over at her, smiling brightly, as they stood up to greet her. She smiled encouragingly and said, "Come, follow me."

They did as she told and she lead them out of the academy to a more secluded place near the old Uchiha compound. The place sent memories through her mind as she remembered many days spending time with the clan, including Obito.

Yes, she knew Obito and had met Kakashi and Rin through him. Shortly after meeting them though, she had gone on to her own path that stayed away from there's. She'd gotten along well with Obito and secretly grew a strange bond with him. She felt as if she'd loved him but knew it was worthless to try; his eyes were on Rin and only Rin. So as she kept living her own path away from theirs, her feelings for him had settled and slowly left her till she only saw him as an acquaintance. When he'd supposedly died from the boulder, though, she couldn't help but feel a great loss; much like when she had lost her family. Then later when he'd revealed himself as Tobi from the Akatsuki, she'd been greatly stunned at the information. She couldn't understand why he had done it, why Rin was so important he turned into such a monster. That sweet, innocent boy she knew was gone; and right at that moment, any feelings she felt for him had vanished. She hoped that the Uchiha's horrible history wouldn't come to haunt these two boys like it had Sasuke and Itachi. She also would do anything she could to make it so it wouldn't happen as much as possible.

She took them through the streets of where the Uchiha used to reside but was now full of restaurants and other businesses. The place she took them to was just outside that area and was now a garden that had a fountain and was blocked off from the outside where no one would hear their conversation.

"Sit anywhere, we're just gonna get to know each other before we get down to business," she told them as she sat on a bench in front of a large bush. They sat in front of her, Daiske to her right, sitting on the ground, Hideki next to Daiske on a rock, and Imahi next to Hideki also sitting on the ground. They all seemed relaxed which made her feel better about being in the spot light. "My name's Takimashi. I'll be your sensei from now till you become chunin. I just want to know a little bit about yourselves; your names, goals for the future, hobbies, anything you want to tell me. Get what you think is important for us all to know out of the way."

"Can you start us off, then?" Hideki asked her kindly.

She nodded. "Well, there isn't really anything I need to say about myself. I'm part of the black ops and I've been on multiple missions in my career. Been through quite a lot, lost my parents at a young age, have done my fair share of mistakes and gone through the consequences. Now, I just want to make sure you guys get the training you need to become the best you can be. Now why don't we go in this order; Imahi, Hideki, then Daiske."

Imahi nodded. "Well, my name's Imahi Inuzuka. I'm part of the Inuzuka clan and I have a shepherd named Dokote. He's not here right now, but he'll be with me from here on out. I like to be challenged and enjoy being put to the test in my abilities. I also like to learn new tricks and push myself if I need to. I hate it when people underestimate me cause I'm a female and seem to be slow sometimes. And my goal is to get as far up in level as I possibly can and be successful in my missions. Most of all, I don't want to be a hindrance to my team and I want to become as strong as I can be."

Takimashi smiled and giggled. "I like your spunk, spunk is good. Next?"

"I'm Hideki Uchiha. My clan is the Uchiha clan and it may have had a dark history and a bad reputation in the past, but I don't want to let that get me down. I plan on bringing honor back to my clan like my father has been trying to do for a long time now. I also want to gain my Sharingan and learn as many techniques as I can. One day I want to be in the anbu, a commander. I hope you can help with that," Hideki explained.

Takimashi smiled and nodded. "I'll help in the best way I can, I promise. Last to go, Daiske." She studied him as he changed positions on the ground, analyzing his chakra. She could tell that it was mixed, not quite one element type, but not all of them. Though he definitely had room to improve and looked like a good student to teach her detection abilities to. He definitely seemed flexible in his chakra element. Kakashi was right, this kid wasn't a helpless weakling, and he was going to become a formidable opponent any shinobi would love to get his hands on; which made it even more important to teach him as much as possible, quickly as possible. The world was a more peaceful place since that last war, but the chaos would never completely go away.

"I'm Daiske Uchiha, Hideki's twin brother. As you can tell, I'm completely blind and I probably look weak and unable to fight like the others; but I will prove you and anyone who had doubted me wrong. I'll work hard and fight till I reach the goal I will make reality; I want to become the Hokage, like Naruto. I know it's not going to be easy, it never has been, but that's not going to slow me down. And… I'm pretty goofy as a person. I like to have fun and will more than likely test your patience," he said, grinning at that last part which made her laugh aloud.

"I'll keep that in mind. Now then, let's get to what you need to know before we start in on our missions," she paused and looked at each of them before proceeding. "You will have one more test I'll be putting you through. It'll test your abilities you have before we start really going. If you fail my test, I'll reject you as my students and will have to spend another year at the academy. And Daiske, I'd rather not have to put this on you, but I've been ordered to by the council. If you fail, you'll be discounted as a shinobi permanently by the council and will have to take classes in the regular school."

He looked angry after that, clenching his hands into fists and grinding his teeth. She smiled to herself, knowing this was the fuel to his fire and that it was now on. He wasn't going to let this happen and the fire in his unseeing eyes made her spirit lift.

"So, the test is this; tomorrow, we will meet at training area seven at eight in the morning, sharp. Make sure you have enough sleep and don't eat your breakfast; have a nice dinner instead. I will have two bells you will have to retrieve from me. Be sure to bring any weapons you need and be ready to fight as if you're going for the kill; you'll need to in order to defeat me cause I'm not gonna go easy on you. And by what you've told me, I expect you to be able to pass this test, I can tell you have it in you. Now go ahead, go home and get ready for tomorrow. Good luck to all of you."

She let them go then waited to be left alone before leaning back and sighing. Tomorrow was going to be a headache, but she had to do it. And she couldn't understand why the council couldn't just let Daiske be; they were the same with Naruto and now he's Hokage. Plus, he's proven himself multiple times to them that he was capable of fighting. It angered her how they had such little faith in some of their genin.

After a few moments of contemplating this, she got off the bench and walked back out into the village and heading back home. On her way home, she found Kakashi again as he went into Ichiraku ramen. Her heart pace quickened and she followed him in, sitting on the stool next to him. He looked at her and jumped slightly then laughed.

"Well then, isn't this a pleasant surprise," he said to her before ordering some beef ramen.

She grinned sheepishly at him. "Of course it is; you can't get enough of me." She replied, winking at him and ordering her normal bowl; shrimp ramen.

He shook his head and snickered. "Well, I don't know how true that is…"

"Please, you know it just as well as I do. Ever since…" she trailed off, not wanting to mention it.

There was a long pause, so long that it lasted till after they received their ramen and began to eat. Neither of them liked talking about him with each other; his name brought up sad memories.

In order to get their minds off that subject, Takimashi was the first to break the silence. "The ramen's good, just as always."

Kakashi nodded and looked at her. He felt comfortable with her there and got closer to her side. She felt his presence closer and looked over at him. The moment caught them both off guard and they quickly went back to eating their noodles.

"What you think of your team?" he asked her.

"They all seem like good kids. They want to become strong and defeat the odds, so to say; especially Daiske. He was so fired and strong hearted about his goals in life." She paused for a moment to take another bite of noodles. "Did you know he wants to become Hokage? He's so much like Naruto it's uncanny."

"It is, he's definitely someone to look up to and respect; even at a young age. Blindness isn't easy, but he makes it seem like a piece of cake. He's got potential, all three of them do," Kakashi explained as he finished his ramen.

A moment after he finished, Takimashi did too. Then just as she was about to pay for her bowl, Kakashi beat her to the punch and paid for both of theirs. She looked at him in surprise at first them smiled. "Thanks," she said, following him out and down the street.

He took her home and opened the door for her. She turned to him in the doorway and smiled lightly, her lips only just slightly arching down. "Thanks for the advice and letting me use your idea, they should be able to do it, I have faith in them."

He nodded. "I'm sure too, they're all strong hearted genin."

"Yeah, we'll see how it goes tomorrow. Well, see you later," she said, turning to walk inside when he touched her shoulder. She looked at him and was startled by his sudden proximity as he put a finger to his mask. He was quick to take it away.

"Yeah, you too," he said, letting go of her and turning to leave.

And just before he got out of reach, she turned him around by grabbing his arm then pulling his mask down. She pulled him close before he could react and kissed his lips deeply. She loved the feel and he relaxed after the initial shock at the sudden act; hugging her even before she broke away. He stood and looked at her before smiling and pushing his mask back up over his nose.

"See you later," he said before finally leaving.

She watched him leave before biting her lip and going inside. She stood there for a moment taking in what she had just done. Slowly, she got ready for bed and fell asleep within a few minutes. Tomorrow was going to be a big day and she would be ready for it. She knew everything would go well, they'd figure out the trick to getting the bells. Just a matter of them grabbing the bells before time was up. She couldn't wait.

Chapter Four

Big Day for the Team

Today was the day. The sun was shining and it was time for their life to really start moving. Daiske and Hideki got dressed and gathered their weapons to get ready for their test. It was six-thirty in the morning and both of their parents were up and in the kitchen. Sakura and Sasuke were both just as excited for their sons as they were. Sakura stood at the stove making Sasuke and her breakfast while Sasuke sat at the table.

He looked at Sakura, looking over her body with a smile. He got up and hugged her from behind, kissing her cheek. She giggled and turned her head to him, kissing his lips softly.

"You think they're going to pass?" she asked, focusing on her cooking again.

He rested his chin on her shoulder and sighed. "I'm sure they will, they're smart kids."

"True," there was a moment's pause before she began to speak again. "I remember this day for us. We were clueless to what Kakashi was trying to get us to do." She laughed then as Sasuke took a seat at the table again.

"Yeah, we definitely were."

Just then, the two boys bounded into the kitchen and sat excitedly at the table, causing Sasuke to step away from Sakura and join them. Both of their faces were bright and they were ready for the day ahead. They wore their forehead protectors on their heads and had their weapons ready and waiting.

"So what's for breakfast?" Hideki asked hastily.

Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other and laughed. "Forgetting something?" Sakura asked with a smirk.

Daiske tilted his head and Hideki looked at them in confusion.

"You two can't eat breakfast, your sensei's requirements for your test," She told them, laughing again as they both looked disappointed.

"Awww," they said in unison.

Sasuke reached over and put his hands on their heads with a pat before returning them to rest on the table. "You two will be just fine. We went through the same and we're still alive, now, aren't we?"

Hideki rolled his eyes while Daiske crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. Sasuke shook his head with a sigh then leaned forward on his arms. "So, you ready for today?" The twins only nodded. "Oh, cheer up. You're only gonna go without food till lunch time. The test will go smoothly, you'll all pass, and then we can celebrate later. In fact…" Sasuke paused, not only for emphasis, but to lean back again with his hands behind his head and a look at Sakura who nodded and grinned. "Invite Imahi and your sensei to dinner; tell them we are behind it all and hope to see them. Six o'clock tonight we'll eat."

They both sat up with bright smiles on their faces and exclaimed, "Okay!"

Sasuke smiled back and nodded as Sakura gave him his food and sat in the chair between her husband and Daiske. They sat there and conversed for about an hour as Sakura and Sasuke ate their breakfast. They felt a little bad for eating in front of their sons even though the twins didn't seem to mind; they knew better. Both Sasuke and Sakura were proud of their sons and looked forward to meeting their teammate and sensei; they also looked forward to hearing the news about how the test went. Neither of them knew what the test would be and also had no clue at all who this sensei of theirs was. Naruto had hinted that it was someone they knew but they couldn't put a finger on who it might be. They knew it wasn't Kakashi nor would it be Sai. So who was it?

When the table was cleared and everyone was off doing their own thing, a knock at the door sent both twins running to open it. Hideki pushed against Daiske who kicked Hideki in the stomach to make him back off. Once Hideki was away, Daiske opened to door to see Kakashi. Kakashi looked at them in confusion then looked through the door.

"Um, hello boys," he said with a wave.

Sasuke came around the corner just then. "Who's here, boys?" Then when he spotted Kakashi, he smiled and approached the door. "Oh, Kakashi, come in."

Kakashi nodded and walked through the door, sitting at the kitchen table. The twins sat on either side of him and Sasuke sat on the other side of the table, leaning back with his arms crossed nonchalantly across his lap. "What brings you here this morning?" Sasuke asked calmly.

Kakashi smiled warmly. "Just decided I would visit you guys for a while. How have all of you been?"

"We've been alright, same as always. Though I do believe two boys should be leaving to meet their sensei," Sasuke answered, looking pointedly at his sons.

They both smiled sheepishly, Hideki rubbing the back of his head and Daiske standing up to leave. "I agree, dad… Come on Hideki, let's get going," Daiske said with a guilty laugh. Hideki nodded and followed Daiske.

Kakashi snickered and shook his head. "You have them trained, don't you?"

Sasuke laughed aloud. "I guess that's a way to put it."

Kakashi leaned back and looked at Sasuke for a moment. He was glad to see him so happy and carefree like he was now. He knew Sasuke's past haunted him and sometimes cast him into the dark, sometimes even bringing that old look of hatred back into his eyes for a moment before leaving him and turning into sadness and remorse. But Sakura could always make him feel better. In the end, Sasuke's life had changed for the best. "They're good kids, smart too. Do they know?"

Sasuke looked confused and startled for a moment before he realized what Kakashi was talking about, his eyes lowering to his lap and he leaned on his arms against the table. "They know about it, I told them everything. I wanted to get it out of the way so I came out with it about a year ago. They didn't react too badly, but they were definitely shocked by it all and it took a while for them to fully accept it." His expression became far away and clouded; which made Kakashi cautious.

"Well, that's good. It's always better to get it out of the way, keeps them from resenting their family's past. More than they do anyway. You and Sakura have done well by them," Kakashi said, smiling kindly.

Sakura finally came in and sat next to Sasuke, greeting Kakashi as she did. This was her day off so there was no need for her to leave the house. It was always Sasuke's favorite day because he had alone time with her. "So, what you guys talking about?"

"We're just talking about your twins, they seem to be doing fine," Kakashi told her, still watching Sasuke.

She looked at her husband then and bit her lip. She could see his shoulders shaking so she wrapped her arms around him. "Sasuke, what's wrong? What's on your mind?" she asked him soothingly.

He sat up, looking at his lap still with his hands clenched into fists. "I don't want them to end up like I did. I don't want them to become consumed with hatred or resentment for the past. I especially don't want them to become haunted by that ridiculous Uchiha curse nonsense. Daiske's blind and can't use Sharingan, but Hideki will be able to. What if Daiske becomes so envious he tries to…" he trailed off then, his body shaking again and his teeth clenched.

Sakura held him tightly as if she was trying to keep his body from falling apart. She was scared but didn't let it show. She hated seeing Sasuke in despair. "Do not think that way, please don't. Those two love each other and you know Daiske accepts the fact he can't use Sharingan. The Uchiha curse will not happen to them."

Suddenly Sasuke stands up hastily and looks at the both of them with anger in his eyes. "Yeah ok, so Daiske won't steal Hideki's eyes, but what about Hideki? He knows of this so called curse, both of them do. What if Hideki thinks Daiske's going to steal his eyes and he loses it? What if he becomes so paranoid he ends up running off or worse… what if he tries to kill Daiske?!" He looked from Kakashi to Sakura and back, both with a stricken look on their faces, before sinking down into his chair again, his face hidden in his hands with his elbows on his lap. He couldn't help it, he had lost his cool. Now he felt ashamed of himself. He knew better than to believe that.

They all sat in silence for a moment before Kakashi stood up. "Sasuke, you know fully well that won't happen. You taught them to work together and made sure they both got the treatment they needed. You and Sakura have done your best to give them the life they were meant to have; now you have to trust them to take it from here."

Sasuke could only nod, still feeling guilty for losing it like that. Kakashi told them goodbye then left; Sakura hugged her husband tightly, trying to sooth him. Every time this type of thing happened, it worried her. She didn't want him to have these feelings anymore and wished she could make them go away completely. But, of course, she couldn't. All she could do is hold him and try her best to sooth him when these times come. She looked out the window, wondering how their sons were doing.

Daiske and Hideki rushed into the clearing, making it just on time and out of breath. Imahi was leaning against a large post waiting for them to show. She looked up and smiled warmly at them, giggling at their hasty appearance.

"Relax, she's not even here yet," she told them, looking over them both in amusement.

Daiske went over to stand next to her. "That means we're not late. How've you been?" he asked her, nonchalantly, as he leaned against the stump with a hand on his head and his elbow against it. He put his hand on his waist and crossed his legs with a flirtatious grin on his face. The night before, Daiske had asked Hideki about his opinion on Imahi; which led into a full blown conversation on whether or not Daiske liked her. Daiske was reluctant to tell his brother the truth, but after plenty of prying, he finally gave in. After that, Hideki had taken it as his job to tell Daiske how to pick up a girl. Though, his method was pretty old school and redundant.

Hideki also went to join them, but just as he neared where the others stood, some kind of large, black and tan monster tackled Hideki to the ground. The creature licked his face over and over, panting his breath into his nose. Hideki coughed and looked at the small dog that sat on his stomach and looked at him with his tongue lolling; he even seemed to be smiling at him. "What the…"

Imahi gasped and ran to Hideki, taking the animal by its collar and pulling it off. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, shaking her head at the dog. "Dokote, you can't just jump on people like that, you could hurt them!" The dog whined and pointed his nose toward the ground in shame.

Hideki sat up. "No, it's fine. He's a cutie." The dog then looked at Hideki and ran to him, putting a paw on the boy's lap and licking his face again. Hideki glared with his head low and his lips pressed together in a thin line. Dokote barked happily and finally got off Hideki to stand next to his owner.

At last, Takimashi showed up, smiling and calm. She had her weapons with her, including her sword she used. She looked at Hideki and raised an eyebrow, looking at Imahi and Daiske after. Finally she noticed the dog and began to piece together what had happened. "Either Hideki is trying some new kind of method to get ready for a fight, or that dog jumped on him. I'm not sure which happened, but I do know one thing… Hideki, get up."

Hideki laughed nervously at Takimashi then did as she said; Daiske and Imahi giggled together which caused Hideki to glare at them. They stopped immediately then looked around as if they had done nothing.

"Now, why don't we begin," Takimashi said as Hideki went to stand with his team. Takimashi looked over all three of them before proceeding. She could see they were prepared for the fight to come. "As you know, you have to get these two bells…" she healed them up for them to see before returning them to her waist "from me before noon. In order to get them, you have to attack me as if you're on a mission that requires you to. And whoever doesn't have a bell will be tied to one of those stumps while the rest of us eat our lunches. If you don't pass, you will have to repeat the academy. Though, as I told you yesterday, Daiske, if you can't pass, you will no longer be able to continue on your shinobi path. You will have to go to the regular school and won't be allowed to fight."

Daiske gulped and tilted his head toward the ground. It was so unfair he couldn't stand it. He was just as capable as anyone else and he would prove that to anyone who defied him.

Takimashi watched Daiske's reaction in slight amusement. She enjoyed seeing the fire that rose up in his expression. "If you do this right, you'll all pass; and yes, there is a certain way to do this. Make sure you plan ahead and are ready to take me on all out. I don't want to see any of you holding back. Oh, and if any of you try to grab a lunch before time is up or you get a bell, you will immediately fail and will return to the academy. So, any questions before we start?" She looked at every one of them and gave them some time to think. When none of them raised a hand, she grinned. "Good, then when I say go, we can start.

" Again, she waited, measuring their expressions and reactions. When she confirmed with herself none of them were going to attack her in haste, she raised a hand and said, "Go."

All three of them separated and ran off into their own directions. She smiled to herself then sat on the ground while she polished her swords blade. She wasn't overly surprised none of them had out right attacked her as soon as she said go. She could tell they weren't going to be foolish enough to do so. For some reason, they seemed to already know what to do and she guessed that at least Hideki and Daiske were going to work together. There was no way Hideki was going to let his brother fail and Daiske sure wasn't going to just stand to the side in fear of failing. No, they were going to team up and attack her together. As for Imahi, though, she wasn't sure if they would include her or not. She had her dog so it wasn't like she was alone. She was excited to see how they were all going to come at this task and hoped, for Daiske's sake more so than the others, that they would all team up together and attack her; she wanted them to.

On the other side of the clearing hidden in the trees, Hideki stood on a branch and surveyed the area. His first plan would be to locate the others. As far as he knew, they were thinking of ways to get the bells for themselves, but he knew they would need to team up in order to defeat their sensei. He hoped that Daiske would realize this as well and would try seeking him out as well. Daiske wouldn't be able to take her down by himself and he knew that his brother was knowledgeable of this. Hideki focused on the environment around him and took in every sight and sound he could hear. His senses were no wheres near as sensitive as Daiske's, but he could hear all that he needed. He could hear the sound of the birds chirping, leaves rustling in the wind, and faintly the sound of something moving in the bushes underneath him. He looked down in surprise to see Imahi looking up at him with her dog next to her. She gestured for him to come down and he did as she said. He was a bit shocked that she'd come to find him, but guessed that she too was thinking what he was.

Once he got down to her, she started to whisper to him. "We need to find Daiske. If we don't work as a team we won't get through this."

He nodded. "Can you smell him or anything?"

She shook her head. "But Dokote can probably find him."

"Alright, so where is he Dokote?" Hideki asked the dog.

Dokote only looked at Hideki then barked at him and licked his face. Hideki glared at the dog then blew up. "I asked you to find Daiske, not lick my face!"

"Pssst, guys. I really think you should quiet down, sensei might hear us," a female's voice whispered at them.

Both genin and the dog whipped around to see Takimashi smiling and waving from next to the tree behind them. "First lesson, don't alert the enemy to where you're hiding," her voice lowered to a whisper. "They'll be able to find you and you'll be at a major disadvantage."

They laughed anxiously then dashed away from their sensei; who stood there and laughed while shaking her head, knowing they were up to something. They ran as fast as they could before reaching the trees on the other side and sneaking quietly through the foliage to a smaller clearing where they could hide again.

"You think she followed us?" Imahi asked.

"I don't think so," Hideki replied.

"You guys scared the crap out of me, I didn't expect you to show up here," another voice said. They looked back to see Daiske staring at them with his blind eyes.

"Daiske!" they whispered in excitement at the same time.

Daiske smiled at them. "I was just about to try and find you guys. What happened?"

While Hideki and Imahi explained what happened, they all watched and began to move slowly toward the larger clearing they started from. Takimashi was back in her original spot, polishing her sword again.

"I see. I agree, we need to work as a team to defeat her," Daiske said.

They stayed behind the bushes out of earshot of their sensei as they worked up a plan. "How about this; Hideki and I will create a diversion, then while him and I are keeping her occupied, you and Dokote go in and get the bells," Daiske said.

"We could give it a shot," Hideki said, nodding and looking at Imahi who also nodded.

Daiske smiled. "Awesome, let's do this then. Imahi, go to the other side and give us a sign when you're there. Can you make a bird call noise by any chance?"

"Yes, I can give you a whistle," she said.

Daiske smiled and waved his hand, signaling her to go. She did as told and dashed through the trees toward the other side of the clearing. When she got there, she gave a charming, sweet whistle like a bird to signal that she made it and was ready. In the clearing, Takimashi smiled as she heard it. _Very good, that was a good move on your guys' part_, she thought to herself. "Ah, finally, my sword is now fully polished."

Daiske and Hideki nodded toward each other then charged into action.

Chapter Five

Daiske's Test on its Kick-off

Once the twins heard the signal, they nodded at each other and burst into action. Hideki ran out in front of Daiske who trailed back a couple feet. He concentrated on the sound of Hideki's foot falls, his breath as he ran, and the vibrations in the ground that reverberated back to him from Hideki so he could figure out where Takimashi was sitting. He did his best to paint an image of the area in his mind; the trees around the clearing, the sky up above where he could hear birds flying over-head. He also pictured a female sitting in the center of the clearing. And amongst all of this confusion of objects, he could feel the individual chakra signatures of his teammates and sensei. He knew from the positioning of where he and his brother had stayed hidden in those bushes that Imahi would be straight up ahead, hidden from view with Dokote at her side.

Suddenly, a new set of vibrations came into his view as Takimashi stood up and got ready for the attack to come. She smiled as the two boys came running toward her. At last she would see these two in action together and not just them training, they really were about to fight at last.

Hideki watched Takimashi closely as he approached her. He couldn't tell for sure, but he felt odd about this. He wondered then if this was the real Takimashi or not. He grabbed a kunai knife and threw it at her, jumping to the side as she dodged the knife then running to her. Daiske veered to the other side then jumped at their sensei from the opposite side of Hideki. As they both came at her from either side and were close enough to land an attack on her, she grabbed at their fists, spun, and let go so they fell to the ground away from her. The two boys looked at her, both smirking, as they ran at her again. This time, as Hideki was in touching distance, Daiske jumped behind her then went, halfheartedly, to the bells and tried to grab them. Wanting to keep Daiske from the bells, Takimashi turned to him and took his arm in her hand just as Hideki punched at her other side. She also took his fist and as soon as she did, Hideki slide to the ground and kicked toward her feet. She tried to get her feet out of the way of his legs just as Daiske slide down as well and went to her feet in the other direction. Just then, Imahi and Dokote showed up and went straight for the bells since Takimashi was too wrapped up with Daiske and Hideki to be able to counter attack. But just as Imahi reached the bells, all three began to feel a weird shift in the air; Daiske more so than the others. Immediately, he knew what this was.

His eyes widened as it sunk in. "Guys, this is a genjutsu! Get away from her," he told them.

They all nodded in unison and jumped away from the fake Takimashi as she began to melt out of existence. Then just as they were all out of sight, Takimashi walked out from the woods and was clapping.

"That was impressive, I like the team work. And that signal in the beginning? Very deceptive. And Daiske, that was great! You did well in defining what that was, you've been taught well. Now for this next tactic I'm sure you guys will come up with, you better think of a really good one cause that last one was not going to completely cut it. Nice try though," Takimashi said.

All three genin listened to her speech and each began to formulate something new when she was done. Hideki and Daiske had fled together so all they had to do was get to Imahi who had fled in the opposite direction. The twins huddled together and discussed a new strategy as Imahi finally found them and joined in. They told her what they had devised and she added in her own part in their plan to correlate with their attacks.

"You really think it will work? I mean, yeah, we'll out number her that way. But still…" Imahi said, wondering if this was truly full proof.

"We have to give it a shot; we need to get those bells as soon as possible. So, ready to put this plan into action?" Daiske reassured her.

Hideki and Imahi agreed, Dokote wagged his tail excitedly and barely contained his bark that rose from his throat. They all separated so they were only two yards away from one another, Dokote with Imahi. Hideki and Daiske both pulled out a shuriken with paper bombs tied to the weapons, creating a substitution to disguise them as the two boys. They both sent out their copies toward Takimashi while all three of them created another clone of themselves. Daiske and Imahi pointed their clones in the direction of the other and told them that when they met each other, to round out the back and just wait for the attack to summon them. All the while, Hideki's clone approached Takimashi from underground.

Takimashi sat in the center of the arena, this time looking up at the sky and thinking back to the old days just when Hideki and Daiske appeared from the woods and ran toward her. She watched them with a raised eyebrow. _This again… _she thought to herself and sighed. "Really, you think I'll fall for it this time?" she asked with a laugh. The twins finally reached her and flew at her at the same time. She did as before and grabbed the two boys by the hand and began to turn and throw them off just as hands shot out of the ground and grabbed both her legs. She looked at them in shock and tried to escape as Hideki's clone shot out of the ground.

The real Hideki, hidden in the bushes, smiled as he watched their sensei struggle then performed the seals for the fire ball jutsu and sent out the large, round inferno toward Takimashi. She looked at the fireball coming at her and threw her arms out, causing the two substitutions to explode into a cloud of smoke; the shuriken bombs going off as well. She punched at the fake Hideki just as Imahi's clone raced in, also grabbing Takimashi, while Imahi and Dokote go in with their gatsuga.

"Ready Dokote?" she asked her dog, the dog jumping and spinning in excitement. "Alright, just like we practiced." She took her arms into her sides and jumped forward with Dokote, spinning rapidly as they flew toward Takimashi. "Gatsuga!" Imahi exclaimed. This move corresponded with Hideki's fireball and both rapidly approached their sensei.

Takimashi, finally getting the clones off of her, tried to evade the two attacks but was suddenly caught by a doton type jutsu. She looked back to see that the real Daiske had appeared and had created the jutsu to trap her. She was surprised by this sudden wave of attacks and had been taken off guard; especially now with this sudden attack made by Daiske. Overall, though, she was impressed. She would have never thought a group of genin would be able to devise a plan like this, let alone execute it so well. She tried to break the doton but it was too strong and she couldn't get a good enough swing with her arms to smash the earth. She grudgingly had to admit that she was caught.

Just as that was happening, Hideki threw a shuriken toward Takimashi then blasted it with a fireball to make it fly faster. He then followed his attack and, while she was distracted trying to fall to the ground and evade the attack, he grabbed the bells before he leaped away as fast he could. As soon as Hideki jumped away, Daiske let Takimashi go, allowing her to get out of the way of Hideki's fire ball just in time. She looked at all of them, shocked and panting. All three of them, including Dokote, stood in front of her, Hideki holding the bells for her to see and all of them smiling in triumph. Standing up straighter, she nodded and smiled.

"Great job. You worked as a team and guess what… you all pass," she grinned then laughed as all three genin jumped her, hugging her tightly. She laughed harder. "I will admit, I doubted you'd be able to pull it off. But that… that was amazing! I've never seen genin think of a plan that well thought out and execute it so thoroughly. I truly am surprised."

"We are too, that was a great test and all of you passed it with flying colors," said a familiar male's voice.

The three genin let go of Takimashi, turning to see two older council members and Naruto standing there. Naruto grinned and gave them a thumbs up, but the two council members stayed emotionless. They did not approve of this what so ever, but they had no say. It had been decided that if Daiske passed this last test, they had to let him continue. They couldn't deny that the kid had talent, but they still hated the thought of a blind shinobi.

"Daiske, your leadership and talent definitely shown throughout the test and we will allow you to keep up with your shinobi training. Good job to all of you," said the man standing on Naruto's right.

Daiske smiled kindly and nodded his gratitude toward them. They nodded back and all three began to leave. Naruto stopped for a moment and looked back. Takimashi and he locked eyes for a moment before he proceeded to walk away.

Once the council members and Naruto had left, Takimashi treated her students to some ramen at Ichiraku ramen. While they all ate, Dokote laid just outside the entry way and waited for them.

"This is great, thanks Takimashi sensei!" Hideki said. He slurped up noodle after noodle hungrily, happy to finally get some food into his stomach.

Imahi did the same, but Daiske stayed quiet and ate slower than the others. Takimashi looked at him curiously. The look on his face slightly startled her and made her worried about him. "Daiske, everything alright?"

He looked up at her in shock as if he hadn't expected her to say anything. "Oh, yeah, everything's fine. I was just thinking; that's all."

She didn't believe him, but she decided to not press for an answer and left it at that. A while later, as they were all just about finished with their ramen, Daiske perked up suddenly and turned to the others.

"Hideki, we almost forgot. Mom and dad want to invite sensei and Imahi to dinner tonight," he said.

Hideki's face went from confused to invigorated as he too remembered that morning. "That's right, I completely forgot about that. You two are invited to our house tonight for dinner."

Takimashi thought for a moment, trying to remember if she had any other plans. "Sure, that's very nice of your parents."

Imahi grinned. "Awesome! Count me in," she said and Dokote came running in, barking then jumping on Hideki and licking his face.

Hideki pressed his lips into a thin line and glared at the dog, his eye twitching as he growled at Dokote. The dog jumped down, looked at Hideki, and started barking at him repeatedly. Everyone started laughing, which made Hideki glare at them too. Then he sighed and shrugged his shoulders, laughing as well.

Later on, at five, Hideki helped his mother set the table while Daiske helped Sasuke with some cleaning. Daiske would hold the bottle of wood polish and spray Sasuke's rag when he needed more while Sasuke wiped down the furniture.

"You guys did so well from what I heard. I'm very proud of you, Daiske. You and your brother," Sasuke told Daiske.

Daiske smiled. "Thanks, dad. To be fair, though, if it wasn't because of the training you've put us through, we wouldn't have done so well."

Sasuke chuckled. "I guess so, but don't change the fact that you all passed."

Daiske shrugged. "That is true."

Hideki looked over at them and watched how his father talked to Daiske. They seemed so much closer then he and their father, it made him a little jealous. He understood why they did what they did, but what he couldn't understand was why it felt like they were more focused on Daiske than him. Suddenly he felt a feeling he rarely ever did. At that moment, he felt a slight loathing toward his brother. He hated the feeling but couldn't do anything about it. His mind went back to what Sasuke had told them about, the Uchiha brother's curse. He couldn't help but wonder if Daiske would ever try to steal his eyes. The thought stopped right there, he wouldn't let it proceed. He knew Daiske would never do that to him. Daiske was fine with the fact that he wouldn't be able to get Sharingan, he accepted it. There was no reason for him to think any different.

Just then, the door rang and Sakura answered it. In the door way stood Takimashi who was waiting patiently.

"Oh, Takimashi, You here for dinner?" Sakura asked, allowing Takimashi to go into the house.

"Yes, I am. Hideki and Daiske told me I was invited," she answered, sitting at the kitchen table where Sakura sat beside her.

"Oh, so that means you're…" Sakura said, trailing off as Sasuke walked in to put the wood polish away.

He saw Takimashi then stopped. "Takimashi?"

She stood up and smiled. "Hello, Sasuke, it's been a while."

"It has been, great to see you again. Are you here for dinner?" he asked.

"I am, I'm Daiske and Hideki's sensei," she answered him as he put the spray in the cabinet then joined them at the table. Takimashi sat back down as well.

Sasuke looked at her, surprised. He would have never guessed it would be her that had been assigned to them. As far as he knew, she had never wanted to be a sensei to a group of genin and guess Naruto must have said something big to get her to agree to it. "So how did it happen? How'd Naruto trick you into putting in for a sensei job?"

She shrugged her shoulders, resting a leg over the other with her hands lying on her legs. "Well, he told me that Daiske needed a teacher who could teach him how to use multiple elements and could help him with his location skills, which was why he chose me to be their sensei. He also told me it was a "mission" that I had to be on. What a laugh. But, I certainly don't regret agreeing. I can tell Daiske has a lot in him, Hideki as well. All three of them were great and I couldn't have asked for a better team."

Sakura and Sasuke smiled proudly as Daiske and Hideki walked into the kitchen, both running to Takimashi and hugging her tightly.

"You made it!" they exclaimed simultaneously.

She laughed. "Yes, I did, I wouldn't miss this for anything."

Both boys let her go and sat on either side of her. Hideki leaned on the table excitedly. "Mom, dad, this is our sensei!"

Both parents chuckled. "You two are very lucky, I hope you know that," Sakura told them.

They both shrugged and their heads lowered so they were looking down. Then suddenly the doorbell rang and the twins jumped out of their seat and raced to the door, Daiske pushing Hideki out of the way and reaching it first. When he opened the door, they both collected themselves and greeted the new visitor. Imahi walked through, Dokote racing in to jump on Hideki, licking his face then barking, his paws on Hideki's chest. Hideki scowled as the dog got off him and licked Daiske's hand before returning to Imahi's side.

"Imahi, welcome!" Daiske said, showing her to the kitchen.

She followed, greeting their parents and hugging their sensei. "I hope it's ok that I brought my dog?"

Sakura nodded. "It's perfectly fine, he seems like a sweetie." Just then, Dokote walked up to her and nudged her hand with his nose. Sakura giggled then gave the dog's head a pat.

Imahi sat at the table as well so she was next to Takimashi and Hideki sat next to his mother, leaving the seat next to Imahi and their father to Daiske.

"Thanks for coming; I hope you've all been doing well?" Sakura asked.

"Oh yeah, it's been a pretty nice day. Been looking forward to this, though," Takimashi agreed.

"Thanks, dinner should be done in about an hour," Sakura told her.

"Good, cause I'm starving."

Daiske suddenly got an idea and turned to Imahi. "We should go outside while dinner's cooking. Hideki, you too!"

Hideki nodded then followed Daiske and Imahi out while the three adults watched them in amusement. Takimashi looked at Sakura and Sasuke and said, "Daiske is definitely more of a leader type."

Sakura shook her head. "He definitely tries his best. "

"Oh, yeah, he does," Takimashi leaned in toward them. "Did you guys know he wants to become Hokage?"

They looked at each other then back at her. "Actually, no, he's never said anything about it," Sasuke said.

"Hm, weird. He told me when we first met, I asked both of them what they want to do. Hideki wants to join the black ops," Takimashi told them.

"I hope they can become strong enough to do that. I'm more worried about Daiske, though. The council's going to do everything they can to hold him back. I just hope Naruto will be able to stand up against them and keep them down a notch," Sasuke explained.

Takimashi nodded and the room went quiet. Her mind left for a moment and went back to earlier during the test, the power these three genin had together. It seemed as if their team was put together for a reason and she couldn't help the feeling that they were up for a hard road ahead of them. It wasn't going to be easy. They were all going to have to fight for their future and keep doing the best they can do for themselves so they can reach their dreams. The silence was broken when Sasuke spoke up.

"About your sword, Takimashi, the demon sword. Is that sword safe?" he asked.

She was a little taken aback by the question and wasn't sure how to respond. She pondered her answer and just when she had thought of a good answer, there was a loud explosion from outside and a yell from Hideki. All three adults shot out of their seats and ran outside to find the three genin and Dokote scrambling back toward the house as a man appeared out of the smoke. He wore a dark grey cloak and held a long sword out at his side. He advanced quickly, chasing the genin as they ran toward the house. The man laughed sardonically and threw five shuriken at each of the genin. Takimashi jumped in the way and created an earth wall using a doton-element type ninjutsu that caught the shuriken in their tracks. Sasuke joined her, activating his Sharingan and lunging at the man, reaching him in seconds and kicking toward the man's feet. To evade the attack, the man jumped into the air which allowed Takimashi to tackle him, holding him to the ground. The man laughed harder as his skin began to dissipate.

He spat in her face, still laughing, as he said, "Your sword will be his, all his! He will kill you all, kill you all! No one is safe, no one! You'll see… you will see…" At that moment, the man disintegrated and disappeared from under Takimashi.

She stared at the ground where the man had been, her face ashen from the warning. She tried to figure out what this meant, but her mind was too jumbled from what the man said; about the sword being "his".

"What the… what's all this about? Who was that guy?" Sasuke asked, stricken as well.

Takimashi only shook her head in confusion and slowly stood up. Then it hit her, she needed to get home. Someone was after the sword; she couldn't let it stay unguarded. She looked at Sasuke with slight fear and a numbness that threatened to consume her. "I have to get home… I can't stay for dinner, sorry," she said, stumbling away toward her house.

Everyone watched her then looked at one another. Whatever the meaning of this was, it wasn't good.

The night was dark as the rain fell from the sky. Hoku sat outside the motel room his team lay sound asleep in. The feeling that had brought him outside was numb and lonely. In his bones, he could feel the foreboding rise from deep inside his body. Something was coming, something dark and unknown. But what was it? What was this threat that came from nowhere?

Chapter Six

A New Challenge to Come

Takimashi sat on her bed looking at her closet door where her sword stayed hidden. It had been nearly a year since that man had attacked her and Sasuke's family. All three genin were progressing well in their training and she knew it was time they moved on to the next level. The week before, she had gone to Naruto and the council about allowing the genin to compete in the Chunin exams but hadn't heard a word from them since. She knew what would be holding them up; they still had serious doubts about Daiske. Even with these doubts she knew well about, she hoped that Naruto would be able to sway them and make the final decision. The council would stop at nothing to hold Daiske back from his true potential and, just as they did with Tsunade about Naruto, they tried to overrule the Hokage and force him into agreeing with them. Not Naruto, though. Naruto let them say their opinions but usually ended up doing his own thing and making them listen to him. He wasn't a push over and did his best to keep them in check. If he hadn't, Daiske would have never made it past enrollment into the academy.

As for the sword, no other mysterious note was sent to them and no one had come to try and steal the sword. Since that night, the distress of the night had nearly disappeared from the village after the news of the attack spread around and it seemed like only a rumor that has diminished. But for Takimashi, the attack had left her shaken and disturbed. Since she was the keeper of the sword, it was her duty to keep it safe. No one would get near that sword; she'd make sure of that.

Just at that moment, there was a knock at the front door. The sudden noise startled her and she shot off her bed to go an open the door. It was Kakashi. They had been seeing each other more often since a year ago but hadn't officially claimed they were dating, especially not to each other. The whole situation was confusing to her. She invited him inside and he sat at the kitchen table where she joined him.

"So, any news from Naruto about the exams?" Kakashi asked her as he leaned back in his chair nonchalantly.

She shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. I'm close to going to them myself and seeing if they've decided, this is ridiculous."

"What do you think is holding them back?" he asked.

She looked at him with her eyebrows raised and her head low. "What do you think is?"

He chuckled. "Daiske, huh? I truly don't understand what they have against him moving forward."

"Well, my theory is that he's Uchiha and blind. You know the truth behind the Uchiha massacre; the council doesn't like the Uchiha, thinks of them as scoundrels. That's what's probably holding them back is their petty beliefs about the clan, more so than the fact he's blind," she explained.

Kakashi nodded his agreement. "That is very true, same probably goes for Hideki as well though they would never let it seem that way."

Takimashi nodded just as another knock sounded at the door. They both looked at it and Takimashi opened it to see Naruto standing on the steps. "Oh, Naruto, I'm surprised to see you here. Would you like to come in?"

Naruto smiled. "Sure, thank you."

Takimashi led him in to the kitchen where he took a seat across from Kakashi. Takimashi pulled up another seat and sat with them.

"Well well well, isn't it surprising to see you here, Naruto," Kakashi greeted him.

Naruto grinned. "Same for you, Kakashi sensei!"

Kakashi laughed. "I'm not your sensei anymore, Lord Hokage," Kakashi said teasingly. "How have things been?"

"They've been alright, just the normal," Naruto said with a shrug. He then turned his attention to Takimashi. "Though I come here to tell you, Takimashi, what our decision is."

Takimashi smiled and sat up taller in her seat, ready for the answer. She'd been waiting for so long to hear what he had to say. "So what is your decision? Are they going into the Chunin Exams?"

Naruto hesitated, letting the anticipation rise, before he finally answered. "Yes, they will be allowed to participate in the exams this year."

Her excitement grew and she could hardly contain it. "That's great! I can't believe it."

"Well you better, because it's happening. Now, you need to make sure they understand what they're getting into. There's some pretty fierce competition this year. Also, you need to make sure that sword of yours stays hidden and undetectable. There will be a lot of tourists coming and we can't take a chance on one of them wanting to take the sword."

Takimashi nodded. "Understood."

Kakashi also turned his attention to her. "Daiske's ready for this, all of them are. They'll do just fine."

"Thanks, I know they will. Though, Hideki doesn't have his Sharingan yet. That doesn't make a difference, does it?" she asked. Even though she hadn't wanted to become the sensei to a group of genin, she had grown close to the three genin and wanted to help them become the best shinobi they could be. Her training with Daiske had been coming along nicely and he already could sense much more than he used to and could pick the vibrations of her footprints among a group of others out within seconds. He could even tell her what jutsu she was creating through her chakra patterns. And to be sure it wasn't just because he was used to her, she had pinned him against other shinobi, both chunin and jonin, and asked them to use ninjutsu or genjutsu for Daiske to sense what they were. He wasn't perfect at it, but he could still tell what they were doing and where the attack was coming from. He had plenty to work on, though, and he would still be at a disadvantage because he was a bit slow at picking certain jutsu up. Taijutsu, on the other hand, was a cinch for him. He could evade and attack as well as the other genin could; that would be his greatest ally amongst the other jutsu. He also had Imahi and Hideki to help and both were gifted genin. The team worked well together and were a very strong force to reckon with. Hideki was advancing just as well as Daiske was and was already stronger than before; same with Imahi. They'd succeed in the exams, she had faith in them. But she was still worried about the fact that Hideki still didn't have his Sharingan.

Kakashi shrugged. "It shouldn't, he's a strong kid and knows how to fight. With or without the Sharingan, he's going to be hard to defeat."

Takimashi sighed in relief. "I hope you're right."

Naruto nodded. "They'll do great, and you better believe it," he laughed.

Later on, Takimashi met with Imahi, Hideki, and Daiske to discuss what their next mission was; only they wouldn't be going on their next mission, they were going to the chunin exams the next week. She met them at the barbeque place where they had chicken and pork for some lunch. Dokote had come with Imahi and lay just outside the building waiting on them. Hideki and Daiske sat across the table from Imahi and Takimashi.

"So what's our next mission, sensei?" Daiske asked as he ate a piece of chicken. Imahi and Hideki looked at her expectantly.

She laughed at their excitement. "Easy, now, there's actually been a change in plans."

Hideki leaned forward quickly. "What? Change in plans?"

Takimashi nodded as all three genin stared at her. "You won't be going on another mission for a while. Instead, you'll be doing something much more exciting for the next month. I've entered you three in to the chunin exams; they will start next week on Monday."

Each of their eyes slowly widened in surprise and excitement. "Chunin exams? Aren't those what we have to take in order to become chunin?" Imahi asked, nearly jumping out of her seat. "And you think we're ready?"

Takimashi nodded with a smile as all three of them fist pumped into the air. Then Hideki sat back with his arms at his side in exasperation. "But, what about my Sharingan? I don't have it yet."

"That's alright, you're strong and you're smart. I know all three of you are capable of blowing the rest of them away. If I didn't think you were ready, I wouldn't have entered you in to the exams; just trust me."

Hideki nodded. "So you really think we have what it takes?" he asked, his excitement booming again.

"I don't think you do, I know you do," she told him.

The conversation stayed on the chunin exams for the remainder of their lunch. She told them the details she could about the exams and what this entailed for them. They were going to have to be in tip, top shape and she told them to take the week to just rest and get ready for them. They seemed to understand. When they were done eating, Hideki and Daiske rushed home. As soon as they got to the door, they whipped it open and, finding Sasuke sitting at the table reading a paper, tackled their father.

"Dad, dad, dad!" they exclaimed excitedly to him.

Sasuke laughed and pushed them off. "What, what?"

Both boys looked at him, Hideki's eyes all starry and Daiske's blind eyes seeming to be beaming with delight. "Takimashi entered us into the chunin exams!"

Sasuke's gaze trailed from Hideki to Daiske then back again before it sunk in. "Chunin exams? That's great!" he exclaimed, smiling happily. He'd been waiting for his sons to finally move on to the next level and couldn't be happier with what he was hearing. The excitement his sons portrayed shown in his eyes. "You realize what this means, don't you? These exams aren't just a game, I hope you realize that."

Hideki rolled his eyes as he sat in a chair across from his father. "Yes, yes, we've already had the speech. I just can't believe Takimashi Sensei actually thinks we're ready for something like this. I mean, I don't even have my Sharingan!"

"Hideki, Takimashi Sensei already told you, it doesn't matter that you don't have it yet, you'll do great with or without it," Daiske said, annoyed with Hideki's worry over his Sharingan. What would he do if he were like him? Blind and completely unable to achieve Sharingan? Daiske couldn't see the big deal over it, it was just another jutsu like any other to him; not a necessity to become a great shinobi.

"I know what she said, but what if I'm not good enough without it?" Hideki shook his head in exasperation.

Sasuke sighed. "Hideki, you will get the Sharingan when the time comes. In the meantime, focus on the task at hand and not the kekkei genkai. Work on your fighting skills without it, it'll come in handy in the long run. Everything will be ok. Plus, you had Daiske and Imahi to back you up, you know they won't let you down. Right, Daiske?"

Daiske nodded. "Anyone better think twice before they even think they're gonna harm my brother."

Hideki nodded. "Thanks, Daiske. We'll take the chunin exams by a land slide." Daiske grinned and nodded while Sasuke sat back with a soft smile on his face. They were ready for it, he knew they were.

Meanwhile, in the hidden rain village, Hoku met up with his team and their Sensei. For once, the sun was out and it wasn't raining. Hoku relished the sun's appearance and sighed in comfort. The warmth rushed through his body and made him feel good. It seemed as though the sun had released some of his stress that only keeps building as the days drag by. He moved at an even pace and let himself soak in as much sun as he could. When he got to a bridge where Kuro, one of his teammates, stood waiting for him, Kuro smiled at Hoku and joined him at his side as they walked to the place they would meet up with their sensei and the third member of their team, Akane. She smiled and waved at them as they approached. Her smile wasn't particularly a joyous one; she wasn't the most excitable person around. She joined Hoku and Kuro, standing to Hoku's right while Kuro stood on Hoku's left. From day one, it had been clear who the leader of this group was. Hoku didn't take great joy in being deemed the leader, but he kept them in check. Both of the genin respected him; though Kuro always tested his patience. Akane was the one who respected Hoku the most; but she also feared him. She would keep Kuro in check just so that she didn't have to witness Hoku getting angry and attacking Kuro for his incompetence. Once in a while, Hoku would give a small threat to Kuro, which would make Kuro gulp. Hoku was definitely the leader figure of the group. Kuro was the testy one who always started the trouble while Akane was more the quiet one who kept to herself and didn't act out against Hoku.

"So, sensei, what are we going to be doing today?" Hoku asked indifferently.

Their sensei chuckled before he began to speak. "You will be packing your bags, all three of you. Make sure you're fully ready for combat; you're going to compete in the Chunin Exams. We leave for Konoha in the morning. You understand?"

The three genin nodded then were let go to get their stuff ready. Hoku smirked as he went back home. At last, he was about to move on to the next level; and closer to the man that haunted Hoku's past.

Chapter Seven

The Newcomers

Daiske and Hideki strolled down one of the back streets that would take them to the academy where they would meet up with Imahi for the chunin exams. Throughout the past week, there'd been multiple genin teams that had come to the village for the exams. They were from different shinobi villages and their strengths varied amongst them. Their team was one of the couple rookie teams that would partake in this exam. Both of the boys were excited for this new adventure and couldn't wait for it to start. As they walked, Daiske could feel the presence of someone else. He could tell there were three and they were headed toward his brother and him. Their energies seemed to be confused and he guessed that they were probably lost. Then, he could feel the vibration of someone nearby; three of them to be exact. He grabbed Hideki's arm and made him stop.

Hideki looked at his brother in confusion just as he saw three shinobi, one of the three being a female, advancing toward them. A boy with deep blue eyes and dark brown hair that fell across his forehead stepped forward; a hidden rain headband tied to his left thigh.

"Hey, we're lost. Could you help us?" he asked, his voice seeming sincere.

Hideki looked at him curiously as the boy looked at Daiske. The boy's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Daiske judgingly. He also seemed suspicious. Hideki became guarded, stepping forward and in front of his brother. Hideki smiled at them. "Sure, how can we help?"

The boy took another look at Daiske before locking eyes with Hideki. "We're on our way to the ramen shop. Which way should we go?"

Hideki raised an eyebrow. Something told him that this boy was dangerous. "You can just keep going straight that way then take a left and go till you find a sign that says Ichiraku Ramen. That's the place you want."

Hoku looked at the second boy, the blind one. He could feel the strength pulsing from the blind boy and could tell there was something about him; he was strong and was going to be a worthy opponent to fight against. He also knew that the kid was going to be targeted by just about every other genin in the exams. Those people won't stop till they get the chance to have a piece of him. The other one was also strong and was no doubted protective over his brother. Whoever their third member was, they were probably just as strong. "Thanks," he said, casting a look that traveled from one brother to the other before he led his team away.

Hideki let out a gust of air as the three finally left. Daiske turned his head to Hideki.

"Hideki, there's something about that kid… I can just feel it… I think he may have an ocular jutsu; his chakra's similar to our fathers slightly. I don't know what it is, but we need to be careful," Daiske told Hideki.

Hideki nodded. If only Daiske could see how that boy reacted. This made him slightly nervous about how the other genin were going to react toward his blinded brother. When the three genin were out of site, Hideki turned to Daiske. "Daiske, we do need to be careful. They were genin, they're probably here for the Chunin exams and I know you could feel the aura from them."

Daiske shrugged and walked forward, past Hideki and toward the academy. "Yeah, they're strong. But so aren't we. Just be on the lookout."

Hideki sighed. He knew Daiske was right, but he still felt chilled by the encounter. Just as their parents had been worried about; those genin were going to eat Daiske alive.

When they reached the academy, Imahi joined them with Dokote at her side. Together, they walked inside and followed the stairs to the floor the room they would take their test in was on. Reaching the door of the room, they could hear murmuring from inside. As they walked in, the atmosphere seemed to be mixed between tension and anticipation. Then, to their surprise, they walked into the room that was filled with genin who had all taken the liberty of crowding the sitting area. When they noticed the new arrivals, the room went silent as they all stared at them. Hideki looked around then cleared his throat. He noticed how every head was turned to them. Or actually, toward Daiske. They judged him with gleaming eyes that seared through Hideki's skin. But what disturbed him even more was how hungrily they stared at his brother. He could tell that they were alarmingly curious about Daiske and he feared they were going to take advantage of his obviously largest weakness. He looked at Daiske who kept his head lowered.

Suddenly Daiske turned in the opposite direction of Hideki and started feeling around as if he didn't know there was a wall there, stumbling forward as he tried to find it; calling out Hideki's name. "Hideki? Hideki! We should find a seat, Hideki," he said, his voice shaky and his gestures unsure. The way he was talking and moving made him look feeble and weak. All at once, the genin in the room became disinterested in Daiske and, some shaking their heads or laughing, went back to murmuring amongst themselves.

Hideki looked at his brother and smiled; he realized what his brother had done. He took Daiske by the arm and showed him to where the sensei would sit, letting him take the seat. He whispered to his brother, "Nice going." Daiske smiled and winked. Imahi laughed as she sat on the desk, Dokote sitting near her.

"That was awesome, Daiske," she also said.

About five minutes later, the door opened again and three more genin entered the room; they were the three that Daiske and Hideki had encountered earlier. The kid with the dark brown hair led the other two inside as he looked around the room. The others, once again, stopped talking and looked at the kid. Hideki noticed how the other genin from the rain village all looked away immediately as if they were scared of him. He couldn't put it together; why did their fellow Rain genin fear him?

The kid looked over in their direction and smiled at them. Then he turned and joined them at the desk. The other two looked at each other in confusion before following him. Hideki raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Oh, hello, didn't expect to find you guys again. You're also in the chunin exams, huh?" the kid asked nonchalantly.

Hideki wasn't quite sure how he felt about this. The situation confused him and made him just that much more suspicious of this guy's intentions. He found it hard to believe that the kid wanted to be friends; there must be some kind of hidden meaning to this. "Yeah, we are. You guys too, huh?" Hideki answered him with a forced smile.

"Of course, gotta do it someday," the kid answered with a laugh.

Hideki looked at the hoard of genin just as they turned their heads again and went back to talking. He looked back at the kid and forced himself to smile again with a slight laugh. "Yeah, that's true."

Imahi stared at the three genin. She'd never seen them before and it made her confused about what was going on. She also noticed how the other female looked at her with blatant curiosity, her eyes glancing at Dokote as well.

"I don't believe I caught your name. Mine's Hoku Kyakuya, what's your names?" the kid asked them.

"Mine's Hideki Uchiha, and this is my brother Daiske Uchiha," Hideki introduced them. Daiske waved toward nothing in particular, still putting on the façade that he couldn't tell where everyone was. But in reality, he could pin point every single person and where they stood. He knew exactly where his brother stood, where the three genin were, and where in the room they sat. He even knew roughly how large the room was.

"And I'm Imahi Inuzuka, the dog is Dokote," Imahi introduced herself.

Hoku nodded at her. "The other two are Kuro and Akane."

Kuro smiled devilishly but Akane just shrugged. Hoku looked at Daiske for a moment before the door opened and a deep voice came from the door jam.

"Alright, everyone, take a seat. You should have gotten a number yesterday or earlier today. That number is where you will sit to take the first exam," a tall man wearing a long, black trench coat boomed as he took his place at the desk, Hideki taking Daiske to his seat as the others found theirs. The man had two scars reaching diagonally across his muscular face with sunken-in cheeks and narrowed eyes. His forehead protector was tied to his head and covered his scalp completely. Under the coat, he wore a dark grey under coat with a raised collar to cover his neck. On his waist he had a black belt over the under coat with darker pants and gloves on his hands that also had the Konoha shinobi emblem etched into plates on the backs of them.

Imahi looked around the room, taking note of where everyone was. Hideki sat at the back row near a window while Daiske sat near the middle in the sixth row; she sat near the front on the opposite wall from the windows. Right next to her sat Akane, the girl from the rain village. Imahi let herself look at the girl for a moment more before looking at the front of the room where the man stood. Just by the looks of him, she knew this wasn't going to be easy. He looked like the type of guy that didn't take it easy on you no matter your level; whether you're a genin or higher. The thought made her excited. She looked down at Dokote who looked back up at her with his brown eyes. She smiled at him and gave him a pat on the head. He let his tongue loll out of his mouth happily as he pressed into her hand. She couldn't wait to see what was up ahead of them.

Hideki kept his eyes straight forward, watching as everyone became quiet. Then he looked at Daiske who sat with his head pointing down. He guessed that Daiske was taking in the environment around him and was weighing everyone's strength around him. His brother liked to stay a step ahead of the game and did well by that. It wasn't like his brother to wait till the time comes to start making plans. He didn't know what this first exam would be, but he knew that eventually they would have to engage in battle with someone. He just hoped he wouldn't be pinned against either of his teammates, especially Daiske.

And just as Hideki had expected, Daiske closely inspected each person's chakra and took in all the information he could get. He also took note of where his teammates sat in comparison to him. He suspected that the next portion of the exam would involve fighting the others so he wanted to be ready. He took note of Hoku's chakra the most. Hoku sat toward the right of him a couple seats away. Daiske carefully measured his chakra and his energy vibrations; though his ability to pick those vibrations up was limited and it took him a long time to lock in on them. By the time he could, the proctor began to speak. Daiske dropped his concentration and focused on the man at the front.

"I'm Ibiki Morino; I will be your proctor for this test. In front of you, you have a paper with nine questions. You have an hour to complete these questions before I give you the final question. In all, there are ten questions you have to complete. In the beginning, you will have ten points and with every wrong answer, you will lose a point. More so, you will be counted as a team, meaning if one of you fails, you all fail. And in order to fail, one member of the team gets a zero or, you get caught cheating. If you're caught cheating five times, you will fail and so won't the rest of the team!" he explained.

Daiske clenched his hands into fists and grind his teeth together. All these rules, they were bothersome. He couldn't help but feel like there was some hidden meaning between the lines.

"So make sure you don't cheat obnoxiously. Do you understand? The shinobi sitting along the wall…" Hideki looked at the line of shinobi curiously. "They will be watching, calling out who's cheating. If they catch you, you will be forced to leave and you and your team will fail."

When Ibiki gave the signal to begin, they started their test. Imahi read each of the questions carefully and knew that these were way too difficult of questions for a genin to know. She looked at Ibiki suspiciously then thought of what he'd said, putting the pieces together. She knew almost at once that in order to pass, she would have to cheat. She looked at Dokote who looked at her. She mouthed words to him, telling him to look at other papers to her. He snorted then looked at the kid in front of her who was writing already. In their own language, he told her what the answers were, giving her hints as to what the person was writing. She paid careful attention and was soon copying down answers. This test was easier than she'd expected.

At the same time, Hideki was reading the questions over and over, trying to answer them. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't get the answers. He became frustrated and ended up hitting the table, which made the shinobi along the wall stare at him. He took a deep breath and refocused, forcing himself to calm down. He looked toward Imahi who he noticed was writing answers in. Hideki watched as Dokote seemed to be telling her the answers in their odd way of communicating. He decided to follow their lead and began looking for someone writing down answers. When he noticed the guy in front of him was already on the second question, he focused on the way his hand moved and from what he could see of the symbols on the paper. Then he started writing down what the genin in front of him had on the paper. He smiled to himself as he was finally getting something done. And now that he and Imahi were on their way to getting done, he hoped that Daiske had figured it out too.

Daiske felt the raised symbols on the paper and memorized the different questions. Once he had them in his mind, he decided he'd cheat off the person writing with ease behind him. He could tell during Ibiki's speech that he'd been purposefully creating a situation where you had to cheat in order to pass; he was inviting them to cheat. He just had to make it look like he wasn't cheating, which would be a cinch for him. All he had to do was tune into the others energy and he knew what he had to write. He focused on the sound of the pen strokes and how the genin moved his arm to move on to the next line. By doing this, he was able to write his answers down in the space provided without going over and he could easily answer the questions he couldn't otherwise. He didn't know what the others were doing since he could only tune into one person's energy with so much depth at a time. He could feel the energy of everyone in the room when he wasn't trying to focus on one person in the way he was now; so in depth he knew what they were thinking. Right now, all he needed to focus on was the shinobi behind him.

To the right of Daiske, Hoku had picked up on the hidden rule behind the rules and was copying down what the person to the left and in front of him were writing. In order to do this, he had his ocular jutsu activated and had its copy mode turned on. In the Kyakugan, there were multiple levels of modes that, with time and practice, he could begin to activate. Unlike Sharingan's multiple modes, the ones the Kyakugan bared were much stronger and harder to come by. For the moment, he could only reach mode three; the gentle fist mode of the Kyakugan. Like the Byakugan, his Kyakugan allowed him to see all the chakra points on the human body and even the main chakra source. With this level of Kyakugan, he could go as far as completely cutting off a person's chakra by hitting the main source. Once he hit that spot, the person would lose all of his chakra and would die right then and there. Only, he still hadn't completely mastered it and with how much chakra that move took, he could never risk using it; not at his level anyway. The copy mode of the Kyakugan was the second level while the first level was simply to be able to see further past the true line of sight; at that level he could even see through people. As the levels got higher, the more he could do and the easier it was. And if he could, one day he would be able to get to the level the man who destroyed his family was at. Though, since it had been so long since he's seen any trace of him, he had no clue just what level he was at. But what he did know was that the man could control death; he could kill with just a look at his opponent's eyes. Also, the biggest downfall of the Kyakugan was, if you were to fight a Kyakugan bearer of a higher level, your Kyakugan would be cancelled out and you would be defenseless. He had to reach the level of _him_ or above and this test was just one more obstacle to eliminate.

Ibiki looked over the large group of genin as group after group began to be called out and forced to leave the room. From what he'd heard about these genin, he knew they were a smart group, much like the Chunin Exams group Naruto had been in. He liked what he saw in these genin. His attention was most drawn on to Daiske, the blind genin that had the rest talking. The way this kid acted and the chakra he could feel from him, he knew Daiske was more than what met the eye. He and his brother both were Uchiha prodigy, true bearers of the clan's name. But what surprised him, was that Hideki didn't have Sharingan yet. By this time, their father had already had his Sharingan. Ibiki guessed that if it hadn't awakened yet, it would during the next round of the exams. What the genin didn't know was that this was going to be the easiest part of the exams. From here on out, it was only going to get harder. At last the hour was up and, after more than a fourth of the squads had been called out, he could finally move on to the last and final question of the test.

Ibiki cleared his throat to get their attention before he began to speak. "The hour is up and it's time for the tenth and final question. Before I proceed, anyone who doesn't think they can handle it, raise your hand and you and your team will fail the Chunin exams. And if you're not sure if you want to continue or not, just let me explain one thing. If you don't answer the question right, you won't pass and your team fails and won't be able to take the exam until twelve years from now."

One of the genin sitting amongst the teams still there had heard enough and he stood up angrily. "But at the beginning of the test, you said we'll only lose points if we get a question wrong! Why is this question any different?"

Ibiki chuckled. "Your argument is valid, but may I remind you I am the proctor of this exam! I make the rules and this is one of them. Now, I ask again, does anyone wish to quit the exam? This question will be the hardest of all the questions and failure will lead to your largest downfall."

The room went still. Daiske could feel the energies mix in confusing patterns. Some of them were angry and stubborn, but the others were timid and even terrified of the last question. He ignored the mass of energies and honed in on his teammates. Hideki and Imahi both were dead set on continuing and so was Daiske. Their team would not back down. After a moment, the boy that had stood up in anger raised his hand. Then as soon as he had done so, hand after hand began to go up and number after number got called. In the end, there were ten teams still left; including Hoku's squad.

Hoku met eyes with each of his teammates and all three of them had agreed on staying in the exam. Hoku had known this would happen and was excited it did. The next exam he knew was going to be much harder and he couldn't wait.

Ibiki looked over the remaining teams and was pleased at the outcome. He hoped he would have been able to reduce this year's genin more than he had years ago when Kakashi's genin were in the exam. The fact that Hideki and Daiske were still in the exam would please their parents. "Well, now, if there won't be anyone else resigning, it's time to move on to my last announcement before the last question." He paused to see if anyone else chose to quit at the last second then finally continued. Everyone in the room was on the edge of their seats in anticipation of the last question. Ibiki smiled. "Congratulations, you all pass!"

The room stayed quiet for a bit longer as it sunk in. Then all at once, everyone relaxed and just about collapsed back into their seats. Daiske grinned excitedly and Dokote barked excitedly, spinning around. Imahi giggled as the dog climbed into her lap and licked her face. Just then, the door opened and a female with short red hair and brown eyes came through. She wore grey pants and an off-white kimono top. She had a rounded face with bangs across her forehead and her eyes were soft but strict. Her eyes glimpsed around the room and she laughed. Her laugh was loud and daunting.

"Only ten this year, eh Ibiki? Looks like you did a good job at weeding out the weak minded. Now let's see how many of these genin are weak in strength," she said with a voice that was almost cat-like and she winked at the genin.

Ibiki shook his head. "Sango, you're always so giddy. It's a good thing the test will speak for itself."

She glared at him. "Well, now, aren't we a positive thinker?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Whatever, go on."

Sango grinned and gave a sassy gesture before turning to the genin again, her eyes losing all of their softness; it being replaced with a predator-like edge. "Alright, here it is kiddos. Tomorrow you will begin the second exam. Report to training area forty-four at noon where you'll be asked to fill out consent forms before beginning. I'll let you know the rules of this test then and you'll understand what the forms are about. You are all dismissed."

Hideki and the rest of his team left together, all of them quiet as they pondered what the next exam would be.

"The next test is going to be grueling, I hope you three are ready for that," a voice said from behind them. They looked back to see Hoku and his team advancing on them. "This won't be like training, this will be the real deal.

Hideki glared at him. "So what? We're ready, weather you think so or not!"

Hoku shook his head. "Trust me, I know _you_ are; but what about you, Daiske? You're at a major disadvantage and those other genin have their eyes on you. Don't think that just because you made it seem like you were too weak to be a threat they'll trust it. They know you're going to be something different, stronger than what you want them to believe. It's rare to find a blind ninja, let alone one that's taking the chunin exams and had gotten through that written test. They know better."

Daiske kept his face lowered, taking in what Hoku was saying. Then he turned his head up to Hoku and looked at him. Hoku had to hold back a shiver at how accurately this kid could see where he was despite the fact he couldn't truly see. "I understand this, and I'm ready. Like you're pointing out, I'm stronger than I want them to see. I will pass this exam with my team, you can bet on that. I won't lose to the likes of you." He turned around and began to walk away, the others following him. Hideki smiled to himself and couldn't help but chuckle. His brother could have such a fiery personality.

Hoku watched them walk away, slightly astonished by the kid's words. Then he smiled. This made the exams just that much more amusing. He wanted to see this kid's true strength and hoped his chance would come soon. If this next test permits, he'd be keeping a close eye on the Uchiha boys.

Chapter Eight

The Boy with the Blind Eyes

When they got to the training area the next day, Hideki and Imahi couldn't believe their eyes. Before them, they saw a tall chain-link fence with multiple gates that surrounded a dense forest. On the outside of the fence, there was a small booth set up. Daiske, on the other hand, he could hear the leaves on the trees rustle and by how many he could hear, he knew there were multiple trees and pictured a forest before them; but that was all he could sense other than the fluttering of birds overhead and small noises coming from inside whatever was in front of them. He grabbed Hideki's arm and made his brother face him.

"Hideki, where are we? What does the training area look like?" he asked curiously.

Hideki looked at his brother questioningly then looked at the forest in front of them. At first he couldn't understand how Daiske wouldn't have been able to see with his senses but after a moment of pondering he guessed it was because his senses weren't advanced far enough he'd be able to tell there was a fence or a large forest thirty yards away. In order for his brother to actually understand what the area was exactly, he'd have to be beyond the fence and amongst the trees and foliage. "It's a forest, Daiske. It has a chain link fence surrounding the forest that has gaits in the fencing. We're outside of the fencing for the moment."

Daiske nodded in understanding. The place sounded sketchy, but he liked it. He smiled as he started to walk forward, nearly bumping into the proctor as she made her way to the front of the group. He hadn't noticed her at first, but within a moment of tuning into his surroundings with his enhanced senses he had noticed her just in time.

Sango looked at the boy in surprise then her expression softened. It was the boy that had the whole village talking; the blind Uchiha participating in the Chunin exams. Rumors went around that he would be the one to win the exams, but many people doubted it. A blind shinobi rarely made it past genin before they quit fighting as a shinobi or worse; they died. Just as the boy was about to apologize, she put her hand on his shoulder. "It's ok, I understand," she said kindly, sounding as if she pitied him. Daiske hated it when people were like that to him but since she was the proctor, he kept himself from mouthing off.

When everyone was there, Sango began. "In my hand," she held out a bunch of papers. "These are your consent forms. You need to sign your name then give it to the men in the booth then once you're set, go to one of the gates. When you turn in you consent form, you will be given a scroll; a heaven or an earth scroll." She held out the two scrolls for all of them to see. One of the scrolls was an off-white color with a pure white band around the center and Japanese symbols on the band. The other scroll was blue with a white band around the center that also had Japanese symbols on it. The first was the heaven scroll and the latter was the earth scroll. "Your aim is to have both scrolls and be in the tower within five days. As a three man squad, you will have to find the scroll you need and get to the tower that's located at the center of the forest. And within this forest, mind you, you won't just be against the other squads, you will also have to look out for poisonous and predatory animals and even plants. So keep in mind, that you will be targeted by someone else, you will engage in combat, and a few of you may even die! But let's just hope that doesn't happen. There is water in the forest, there are streams running through it. Any questions?"

When no one raised their hands, she began giving out the forms and let everyone disperse in that area while the men got ready to hand out the scrolls.

Hideki, Daiske, and Imahi sat near a bush that was close to the fence where they filled out the consent forms. "This is going to be the fun part… Though this paper isn't in raised symbols, so Hideki?" Hideki laughed and guided Daiske's hand to the line he had to sign on.

"It will be the fun part. All though, I am worried about those three," Hideki said, referring to Hoku's group.

Daiske nodded. He had the same feelings and knew Hideki was right to be worried. The power he could feel from that kid was great and formidable.

"I just wish we didn't have such a short span of time to get this done… That's gonna be the hard part," Imahi pointed out, Dokote barking.

"True, the time is going to be bothersome," Hideki agreed. Hideki looked around at the competition. There was a team from the sand village, two teams from the mist village, three teams from the rain village, not including Hoku's squad, and two from the waterfall village. It was interesting to him to see shinobi from a foreign village and not just from Konoha. What interested him the most, though, was that one of the teams had a horse with them. He found it strange that there was a horse with the team; since when were there ninja horses? He couldn't fathom a reason why someone would fight with a horse other than for transportation, but it wasn't his business. The horse seemed to belong to one of the mist village girls who sat on the horses back as she signed the consent form. The horse extended her neck to the ground and began to eat the grass. The horse wasn't too big, but she wasn't small either. He wasn't sure what to call the coloring of the horse, but she was white and had large, deep brown blotches on her fur that covered much of the white; it had white legs and white peeking through here and there. The white seemed to be painted on and didn't have any profound edges; it seemed like a misty, white pattern. Her mane was white with some black and her tail was white on top of black. Her face had deep brown cheeks, ears, and it looked like one side had brown going over her nose closer to her muzzle. The forelock was long, white, and hung past her eyes. The girl had long, light brown hair that had some blond streaks through it and her bangs hung to one side of her face that was kind of heart shaped with fine cheek bones and full lips. Her skin was pale, but not a sickly looking pale. He couldn't tell for sure, but her eyes looked like they were green. She wore a beige colored sleeveless, snug fitting, short and flowing kimono top with a navy blue, wide, diagonal stripe across her front and around the back. On her legs, she wore a dark pair of baggy sweat pants with her lower calves wrapped down and under her shinobi sandals. She had tiger claws on each of her hips and her forehead protector was tied around her forehead with the plate on top of her head as the bangs stayed toward her face and in front of the forehead protector. She interested Hideki and it made him curious about her. He them shook his head and refocused on the situation at hand. He couldn't afford to let someone get on his mind like that.

Hoku watched Hideki and his group closely. This was perfect; the exam was going to give him the prime chance to watch these genin. By doing so, he hoped he could figure out just what made that Daiske kid so great. It thrilled him to have finally found an opponent that might be as strong as him.

"Hoku, why are you so interested in that boy?" Kuro asked him suspiciously.

Hoku laughed. "He could be a valuable asset. Him and his brother… We just need to figure out how they tick and see their strength to know if they'll be useful in gathering the scrolls we need. I can't wait."

Kuro grunted and looked away. Hoku disgusted him; he hated that kid. The way he acted so high and mighty, his strength, all because he's some special prodigy from a supposed mythical clan that no one knew anything about. He was tired of it and couldn't understand it.

Akane watched Imahi, studying her. Like Hoku, she too found an interest in them and wanted to learn more. Most of all, she wanted to test that girls strength. But she wouldn't get too hasty; Hoku would never allow her to.

Twenty minutes later, the booth opened and the teams entered one by one to retrieve their scroll and hand in their forms. Daiske, Hideki, and Imahi were nearly the last to go in and were assigned an earth scroll. Hideki was the one to take it and he hid it in his holster. Once they were ready, they found a gait where they stood and waited to go in. Within a few more minutes, the gates were opened and the test began. Every team entered the forest and the exam began.

Daiske lead the group as he focused on the energy and vibrations around them while they sped through the trees, jumping from branch to branch. He used the sound of the leaves to measure the distance from one branch to the next. From being inside the forest, he could now tell what the area would look like if he could see. From his senses, he could tell that the trees were thick and there were sounds of birds here and there. Down below, he could hear other animals on the ground. His teammates followed close behind.

Hideki sped up slightly to catch up to his brother, matching his pace. "I think we should go a little farther and find a place to stay for a little while, we should think of a game plan."

Daiske nodded his agreement and sped up slightly more, causing their pace to quicken even more. They went for another twenty yards before they found a small clearing where they jumped out of the trees and gathered in the center, standing in a circle. Dokote sat next to Imahi's feet in alert for anything that might find them. Daiske kept his own energy up as they stood there so he could pick up anything if he needed to.

"Ok, so we need to figure out what we want to do," Hideki began. "I think we should find a spot close to a stream so we can get to water and fish easy."

Daiske nodded. "I think that might be a good idea, we need food and water if we plan on getting any scrolls. Also, I think it might be best to lay low for a little, keep out of trouble till we know what exactly we're doing." Imahi and Hideki agreed.

"Dokote could probably find which way the stream is, he'll be able to track it. Same with animals we could use for food," Imahi told them.

"Good, let's get going, then. I can already feel a presence coming close to this way," Daiske told them. They all jumped back into the trees and began on their way again, looking out for a water source.

A kilometer away, Hoku and his team were making their own way through the dense forest. He was following their trail and deliberately stayed at a slow pace so they wouldn't catch up too quickly. Kuro grunted in retaliation.

"Instead of following these kids, shouldn't we be trying to find a place to stay?" he asked, getting annoyed with Hoku's games.

Hoku stopped and looked at Kuro, anger in his eyes. "We need to follow them and we need to figure out how they work. These guys could end up being our opponent later and it will be much more helpful to be ready. Besides, I think that if we can manage to team up with them, we might have a better chance at getting out of here."

Kuro looked away stubbornly. "That's ridiculous. We need to squash them and take their scroll! That's the only way to pass this test. You really think they'll be willing to help out their enemies? I think not. We can't trust them so it's better if we defeat them."

Hoku sighed in aggravation, which made Akane shiver. She grabbed Kuro's arm and made him look at her. "Kuro, I'm sorry but I think Hoku is right."

He turned on her, pulling his arm away from her. "Of course you agree with him, you always do!"

"Kuro, calm down. Don't blow up at Akane for your arrogance," Hoku said, defending Akane.

"Arrogance!" Kuro exclaimed, getting angry. "Do not act like I'm beneath you, Hoku." He turned to Hoku, getting into his face. "I'm your equal and I can defeat you. Just wait and see, I will become stronger than you, Hoku. Then you won't be able to look at me the way you are now. I'm better than you and you know it."

Hoku twisted his mouth to the side in a smirk. "If that's so, then I can't wait to see this transformation you say is going to happen. Kuro, you're strong, I understand that. But you have a long way to go, we all do."

Kuro clenched his hands into fists and was just about to swing for Hoku when he stopped himself, turning around and resuming their travel through the forest. "Let's just keep going, we have an exam to win."

Hoku gave a "humph" and followed, knowing he'd won again. He hoped Kuro would become strong as well, he enjoyed the challenge. Anything would make him stronger and closer to defeating that man; Hoku believed that the man who destroyed his family had more plans and he knew they were no good. He needed Kuro and Akane both, but he felt he also needed Daiske and Hideki as well.

After a couple more moments of travel, they finally caught up to Hideki's squad who were setting up camp for the night. They made sure to disguise their own presence and made their own camp. It was already four hours into the exam when they were finally ready to rest for the night so they could gather all they could about what to do next.

Meanwhile, around five kilometers east of them, another team sat amongst the branches of the trees and were resting for a while before moving on again. These three genin were from the sand village and were already sick of the climate in this country. Each of them wanted to go back to the desert but knew they had to stay focused. Their names were Sosuke, Hukadoshi, and San and were thought of as the most gifted genin in the sand. Hukadoshi was an amazing marksman who carried a blow and large set of arrows on his back in a light brown holster that was strapped to his back. He had short, slightly spikey, dirty blond hair with his headband around his forehead. His clothes were dark with fishnet- like sleeves that went down to his wrist and baggy, black sweat pants that were held up by a plain, leather belt. He was more of a distance fighter than close combat type of guy. His depth perception was phenomenal and he never missed his mark; his speed was great as well and could shoot as many as thirty arrows per minute and still never missing their target. The arrows on his back ranged from normal arrows to arrows that blew up on contact. Some dispensed a net while others were heat seekers that followed their target till they hit. Even his ninjutsu was pretty well developed for a genin; though he preferred his arrows over any other type of fighting.

The female on the team, San, was known as one of the best genin swordswomen in the sand. She carried twin swords on her left hip and carried a scroll in her holster where she had a larger, more dangerous sword she used when she was desperate. She wore a light blue t-shirt that had a V-neck collar, thin but not see through, and was long enough that she wore a belt over it that hung on her hips loosely, one side falling lower than the other. Her pants were capris style and were black; she wore dark colored ninja sandals on her feet. Her hair was black and long, extending past her shoulder blades, and had gentle waves in it. Her eyes were dark brown and were set into a gentle looking face with high cheek bones and delicately rounded cheeks while her chest was prominent and the rest of her body was lithe and agile. She was always the one that kept their knucklehead in line, Kohaku.

Kohaku was obsessed with fighting. Even when the situation didn't call for combat, he seemed to find some way to cause a fight. He had also been the guy all the girls wanted to woo into liking her with his shaggy, messy looking blond hair and light, soft blue eyes. He had a handsome face and his body was strong. The muscles throughout his body were long and lean which made his body more attractive; they weren't too large but they weren't small either. His skin was tanned just right. He wore a dull yellow short sleeved shirt and long light beige shorts with pockets; his holster below the pockets and he had black ninja sandals. Over the shirt, he had an off-white gourd holster that looked similar to the one their Kazekage, Gaara, used in his younger days and his forehead protector was tied around the top of the gourd with the plate peaking from next to his neck. The gourd on his back was large and, since he used sand ninjutsu, the gourd held sand that he could use for his techniques. While undergoing ninja training, he had learned techniques similar to Gaara's; even learning some from Gaara himself. He had an odd sort of bond with the Kazekage after being involved in a horrible accident that almost caused Kohaku to lose his left arm. The accident had happened from Kohaku getting caught in a cutting machine that shredded the skin on his arm. The injuries were so serious that they caused dead tissue to harden and callous on the bone and his skin was permanently scarred from the cuts. Ever since that day, he had kept his arm wrapped in bandages to hide the damage. Then after being in the Hospital for about a month, Gaara had taken Kohaku in for a while just so he could finish healing and get a start on his shinobi training again. Kohaku had also lost his father at a young age and his mother was left unfit to take care of her son so he ended up being put into another home till he could take care of himself.

His life wasn't perfect, but he never let it get in his way. These exams were just another stepping stone toward his goal of becoming Kazekage. He and his team had set up a couple traps around the area they were resting in in case another team found them. It wasn't too much longer after they'd set the traps and perched on the tree branch that they heard one of the traps go up then crashed to the ground. Two startled voices began to cuss and sounded agitated at their teammate. Kohaku met eyes with each of his teammates, all of them smiling.

All of a sudden, on the ground, a mass of sand raced toward them, catching each of them inside it and making them immobile; hardening once they were caught. They began to squirm frantically to try and break free, but it was no use. A moment after being caught, another team jumped from the trees. The sand shinobi with the blond hair winked at them.

"Why, hello there! Isn't this a wonderful surprise?" the blond haired kid said.

"Wh-who are you guys?" one of the other genin asked; they were genin from the hidden rain village.

Kohaku shrugged. He enjoyed watching them squirm and trying to get out of a hold he knew was impossible to break. "Just your normal, friendly Sunagakure shinobi. You know the ones who just kicked your butts without a problem what so ever?" he said tauntingly with his hands on his hips and slightly leaning forward. The glares they gave him made him laugh. "Now, the easiest thing for you guys to do, well if you want to get out of that sand that is, is to hand over the scroll and we'll be on our merry way. Or, I can crush you with that sand and voila, we still get the scroll."

One of them shook his head. "Tsk… you can't crush us with sand."

Kohaku held out his hand toward them and began to close his fingers, causing the sand to tighten. The three screamed aloud as they could feel their bodies get squeezed tighter and tighter. Kohaku smiled and let his hand down so the sand would loosen again. "Now, give us the scroll, or we crush you."

Their faces became frantic as they nodded briskly. "I have the scroll, if you could let my hand go, I can give it to you! It's in my left pocket," one of them said.

Kohaku looked at San and nodded toward them. She took the hint and approached the genin. Kohaku used his chakra to create a hole where the kids' pockets would be, without letting go of his arms, so San could reach in and find the scroll. She checked both sides and found nothing. "He doesn't have the scroll."

The genin began to hyperventilate in panic as Kohaku shook his head in disappointment. "And here I was giving you a chance to get away freely, and this is what you do? I knew something like this would happen." This time, when he held out his hand, he clenched it into a fist which made the sand tighter than before. The three genins' screams echoed through the forest, alerting everyone to what was happening.

Even though the sand was tight enough to kill them, without him saying the name of the jutsu it wouldn't fully crush them. Finally, as they pleaded, they agreed to hand over the scroll then left the site, getting away as fast as possible. Now, since Kohaku's team had both scrolls, they made their way toward the tower.

Ten kilometers north east of the sand genin, a horse carrying three riders on her back raced through the forest. Takeshi sat back and told the horse to slow down and stop. The place they stopped was in a clearing that had a stream running through it and one of the trees had roots that provided a shelter to stay in. The three genin jumped off the horses back and sat in a circle next to the water's edge.

"We need a plan here to make it out of this forest. We have ten teams to get through and five days, we can do it," Takeshi told her teammates as her horse, Misty walked off a few feet and began to graze near the water.

Her teammate, Shinata, was the first to speak before his sister, Sumire could answer. He was a tall, strong guy with a stealthy build, soft green eyes, and white spikey hair. He wore a grey shinobi vest with a black strap around his torso and over his right shoulder that held his large, diamond shaped weapon on his back; the under shirt was short sleeved, black, and he had dark blue fingerless gloves. The weapon was large enough that when he threw it, it could hold his weight and it responded to his chakra. The side points of the weapon were cut away so there was a groove that would allow him to throw it and not cut his body. In the center there was a circle that had a silver rod marking the diameter of the circle for him to throw it with. Because it responded to his chakra, it would return to him like a boomerang and he could send a steady stream of chakra to latch into the weapon and stand on it as if he was surfing the air; like with the tree climbing exercise. The weapon itself was made from gold he'd melted in order to make this deadly weapon. He even added some diamond into it to make it even stronger and protect it from breaking or scratching. He also wore black, baggy sweat pants with his ankles wrapped under his grey shinobi sandals and over the sweat pants. The mist village forehead protector he wore around his forehead. "I think we should just let them come to us. I mean, we're not the only ones who will be looking for a team to go after, it's only a matter of time," he said, leaning back on a boulder behind him.

Sumire rolled her eyes in disgust. "Please, Shinata, we can't just sit and do nothing. If anything, we should go after those Uchiha boys," she said in her cat-like tone, smirking at her brother who seemed to completely ignore her. Sumire wasn't particularly the most attractive female, with her narrowed mischievous dark green eyes and slightly large nose. Her hair was white like her brothers and long with short bangs across her forehead while her skin was slightly darker than his. She wore a dull, pink short sleeved shirt with a tan skirt and tan gloves that extended slightly past her wrists. Her shinobi sandals were dark blue and her forehead protector was tied loosely around her skinny neck.

Takeshi shook her head. "This is going to be one hell of a week… You both need to pull your heads out of your asses and get on task! No Shinata, we can't just sit and wait we need to attack on our own. Sumire, that team will destroy us. Shinata's better at long range attacks, you can barely control your chakra, and let's face it; I'm no good when you guys can't pull it together." The other two looked away from her and grunted. "Now I ask again, what do we have for a plan?"

Shinata sighed then leaned forward again, his expression serious. Takeshi liked it when he had that look on his face, it normally meant he had something good coming. "I still say we wait, but not how you think. I took it upon myself to do some research before we got released into here. There's a rain village team that has had their eyes on us since before we started and they will come find us. We'll stay here and let them come, maybe move a little closer to the tower as the days go on. Then, when the time comes, we'll be ready and we'll go onto the offensive. We still have a while before they release their attack, so we just need to stick it out and plan our moves as we go, understand?"

Takeshi smiled in delight. Shinata was always great at determining another's motive through how they acted and the emotions they portrayed. This way, he was always a step ahead and seemed to know his opponents every move before they did themselves. Sometimes it made people believe he had an ability like the Sharingan when in fact, he had nothing close to that ability; he was just great at psychological skills and knew the human mind. It made him a great spy and a phenomenal interrogator. She'd even heard word of the Mizukage possibly inducting him into the Kirigakure Interrogation core once he became chunin. It was only obvious he would have easily passed the first exam; he would have known exactly what Ibiki was planning the moment he began to speak. They were going to blow away the competitors in this exam, she knew they would.

Chapter Nine

An Alliance

Takimashi walked through the streets on her way to have some tea and Dango with Kakashi. He was already waiting, to her surprise, at the entrance to the building and he greeted her, leading her to a table inside where a waitress met them. They ordered their Dango and tea then relaxed till their treat arrived.

"I can't believe my team has made it into the second exam. I was so worried about them," she said, laughing foolishly.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "You worry too much. You and I both know they have what it takes. The hardest part will be the final exam when they have to fight each other."

Takimashi shrugged. "You have a point… But you really think they'll be able to survive this survival test?"

He nodded as their order came and they began to eat it. "I know they will. Their team work is great and they're all very strong and intelligent genin. Hell, they even got the bells from you. They will be just fine."

Takimashi giggled as she nodded. "Very true."

Just then, Hinata came to find them and motioned for them to follow her. "Leave a tip and come with me, Naruto's inviting you two and Sasuke and Sakura to watch the exams with us. We're looking through footage of what's going on with Daiske, Hideki and Imahi. He thought it would be a good idea to watch what's going on with the teams and it's their turn to be watched."

Takimashi and Kakashi met eyes then did as she said. They followed her to Naruto's office where there were multiple televisions showing the forest of death, one focused in on Takimashi's team. Sasuke and Sakura were already there, watching the Uchiha boys intently. Naruto grinned at them and motioned for them to join.

"You got here just in time. There's something interesting about to happen and I think you might enjoy watching," Naruto told them as the joined in watching the screen. The three genin sat together near a small fire where they had fish cooking.

Hideki lay on his stomach as he held his fish near the fire, watching the flames lick at his meal. The flames amused him and kept his attention before Daiske interrupted.

"It's our second day here, I'm already sick of it. When are we going to come across another team?" he asked.

Imahi shrugged. "Not sure, but we have to at some point, there's only ten teams in the second exam."

"I know that. But you heard those screams, another team has already gotten the scrolls and I'm sure have already passed the exam! I'm positive of it. So how come we haven't had any such luck?" Daiske complained.

Hideki sighed in exasperation as his brother and Imahi argued. This was the second time Daiske had brought up the same complaint and it was getting on Hideki's nerves as well. He stuck the stick into the ground and lay on his back as he looked at the blue, cloudy sky above. It looked like rain. Then suddenly Daiske stopped talking which made Hideki sit up and look at him. Daiske had his back straight up and his head high in alert. Hideki looked around, knowing he sensed something. He sensed it too; there was someone in the bushes watching them. He could feel his sense of sight sharpening slowly as Imahi stopped talking as well, Dokote releasing a low growl toward the bushes.

Daiske stood up only to have Hideki make him sit again. Instead, Hideki stood up to confront the intruders. "We know you're there, no need to keep hiding."

There was a laugh as a group of rain genin jumped out of the bushes, each with daunting grins on their faces. "So you do, well do you know what's going to happen now that we're out?"

Hideki smirked. "I don't know, you tell me. From what I can tell, not much is going to happen other than the fact one of us is going to lose a scroll. Am I right?"

The rain genin laughed as he launched forward, attacking Hideki head on. Hideki smiled at the obvious attack and grabbed out a kunai just as the other genin reached him, clashing kunai together. "You're a smart one, aren't you? Gutsy. All the more reason to destroy you!" The man said, pushing against Hideki with such force he couldn't keep himself up and ended up falling toward the ground as he vanished into a cloud of smoke; a substitution.

At that exact moment, Daiske jumped forward, spinning a kick directly at the other genin's head. Just as Daiske attacked this one, Imahi and Dokote with Hideki attacked the other two rain genin before they could get to the aid of their fellow teammate.

"Oh, so you think a blind kid is enough to take me? Your friends are utterly stupid to think a blind kid that can hardly walk straight will be able to beat me!" the rain genin yelled angrily.

Daiske smiled and laughed. "Maybe I can't, I don't know. But you seem pretty flustered over fighting a blind kid."

The guy growled and lunged forward again, this time creating clones to attack from different angles. Daiske smiled in excitement as he followed the vibrations and chakra signals made from the clones. He grabbed out a shuriken in each hand then threw them at the two clones, jumping into the air just in time for the other genin to miss him. He could feel the genin becoming angrier as he charged Daiske with a sword he pulled out of his belt. Daiske grabbed one of his Kunai and clashed with the sword.

Daiske blocked attack after attack, spinning on the ground and raising his kunai into the air to block another blow that came from directly above him. Just as he span, he managed to kick out his leg and catch the rain genin by the knees, forcing him to fall. Daiske jumped back a foot and confronted the man on the ground. "Tell me again how a blind kid won't be able to take you on? I'm dying to hear it."

The genin growled again and shot back up again, running toward Daiske. "I will not lose to you!" he yelled furiously as he performed a sequence of hand seals. Within seconds, a wall of senbon fell from the sky like rain and aimed right toward Daiske. Daiske's heart began to pound as he realized he wouldn't be able to avoid the attack. He had let himself get ahead of the fight and wasn't able to react efficiently. The rain genin laughed maniacally as the needles fell on Daiske.

Just as Hideki got finished with a fireball at his opponent, he looked at Daiske and gasped. He yelled out Daiske's name then raced to his brother's aid; suddenly able to see each and every senbon as they fell. With this new sight, he was able to avoid the senbon and reached Daiske just in time to get his brother out of the rain of senbon and to safety. Daiske was bleeding from multiple places where the senbon had pierced his body and was breathing heavily.

The rain genin looked at Hideki in anger and was about to charge in again when he stopped short, surprised at what he saw as he began to back off a little. Sure enough, this kid was a true heir of the Uchiha. His eyes were red with a single tomoe in each eye; he had activated the Sharingan.

Hideki smiled, thrilled he had finally done it; he finally awakened his Sharingan. He glared at the genin. "You do not hurt my brother."

Daiske forced himself to stand, hunched over in pain from the poison that had been on the needles. "I'm sorry I got tricked, Hideki. It won't happen again," Daiske said, panting from the strain of standing up. It was at that moment that he had sensed the change in Hideki's chakra and realized it was the same as their fathers when he had the Sharingan activated. "Hideki… your Sharingan?..."

Hideki grinned toward his brother. "Don't worry about it, you were caught off guard. His jutsu came quickly."

Daiske smiled and stood up straighter, wincing in pain but still able to move. He joined Hideki as they looked toward the genin. "Well, then, shall we?" he asked Hideki who nodded.

The two brothers began weaving a hand seal sequence that created the fireball jutsu. They both did the same jutsu and used it as a way to hide their next move with the bright flames. Hideki rounded the back as Daiske came in from above. Daiske threw kunai at the genin who dodged them with ease. Just as he began to rejoice and move in to attack Daiske, Hideki came from behind and slid on the ground, spinning a kick at the other genin's feet who jumped into the air. Then, Daiske, who was still coming in from above, created a clone that threw him toward the rain genin to allow him to kick with his feet. Daiske spun in the air after the clone threw him and landed a blow on the rain genin's head, sending him flying into the ground hard. After that, Hideki jumped up and landed a final blow into the rain genin's stomach, knocking the air out of him and jumping back. This all happened so fast that the genin wasn't able to create any signs and hardly had the time to escape.

Meanwhile, Imahi and Dokote had taken out the last two genin together. Searching over the three rain genin, they found their scroll; only the scroll was the same one they had. All three groaned in annoyance and gave the scroll back, getting ready to jump into the trees just as Daiske fell to the ground, groaning in agony.

"Hideki, did those needles have poison on them?" Imahi asked.

Hideki nodded. "We need to get away from here and find a place to rest, now." Imahi nodded and helped Daiske up.

With the aid of Imahi and Hideki, the squad jumped through the trees to a new place to stay.

Unknown to them, they were still being watched by another team who stayed just out of sensing distance and disguised their presence.

"Hoku, what is it?" Akane asked, looking at Hoku who watched the other genin intently.

He looked at her then back ahead again. "Nothing."

Kuro glared at Hoku, grinding his teeth. "I say we attack them! They're wounded, it's our best chance!"

Hoku stopped and confronted Kuro, who's eye twitched and took a step back. "I told you once and I'm not going to tell you again; we are not going after them. They're our greatest chance at getting through this test. Instead of just making enemies, let's make an alliance. After all, this exam is about team work, correct?"

Kuro glared angrily at Hoku. Who was he to talk like that to him? This guy angered him and he hated how he treated him. They continued on the path for a while before the leaf squad finally found a place to rest where they could hide as Daiske healed up from his wounds a bit more. Hoku and his team made their own camp place out of eye sight so the three genin wouldn't sense them. Kuro looked at the team who weekly sat in their shelter. He couldn't understand what Hoku saw in these three. He turned to Hoku again, advancing on him intimidatingly. "Hoku, we have to attack them now! It's our only chance."

Hoku sighed then stood up, staring at Kuro, his Kyakugan shining in his eyes. "Kuro, I am done explaining to you. Now sit down and shut up. We are not going to attack them."

Kuro couldn't help but feel scared by Hoku's words and the kekkei genkai showing in his eyes. Kuro turned away and grunted. "Fine, whatever. Just get back to your tracking."

Hoku shook his head and deactivated his kekkei genkai. He turned from his team and began to leave. "I'm going to take a look around." Then he was gone.

Kuro turned his head away stubbornly. "Tsk… Who does he think he is? Bossing us around. Why is he so set on passing anyway? Not like the title of Chunin matters towards your strength."

Akane sighed. "Have you never heard about what happened to him, his clan?"

Kuro looked at her and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah; his clan. What of them?"

Akane shook her head. "They were wiped out, right in front of his eyes. And you know who did it?" When Kuro didn't answer, Akane began again. "It was his own brother; Ichiru Kyakuya. Hoku was only six years old. That guy started with their parents, tying Hoku up and forcing him to watch. Then he moved out of the house, dragging Hoku behind him. The rest of the clan raced to see what the screaming was and that's when it really began. One by one, Ichiru killed every single clan member single handedly; Hoku being forced to watch the whole thing. Finally, when the clan was gone, Ichiru turned his attention to Hoku who was screaming for him to stop and to not kill him. Ichiru ignored his pleading and kicked Hoku in the stomach, sending Hoku through the air and into a wall. Ichiru pushed Hoku into the wall with a kunai to his throat. And you know what Ichiru's last words were?"

Kuro shook his head, his eyes wide in shock and his face reflecting terror. He couldn't believe this had happened. It was horrible and he couldn't imagine the feeling. Just as Akane was about to speak again, a voice from behind them made them look to see Hoku standing there, his eyes shadowed. "He told me I wasn't worth the time to kill. He said I would never amount to anything and that I was a worthless piece of scum. I would never become strong and I would always live as a weak, good for nothing fool. Die worthless and starve. He also told me to kill myself and save everyone the trouble, die in shame and don't even try to take revenge, you'll only fail miserably like you were destined to. Die the freak you were born as. That's what he told me and that's why this means so much to me. My brother's not done, I know he's not. And since I'm the last of the Kyakuya, I'm the only one alive who knows the dynamics of our eyes; I'm the only hope to defeat that man but I can't do it alone. These exams are the perfect way to get the word out and even make strong allies. That's why I want to see what these guys can do, them and their village, all the villages, will be the only way to take out my brother."

Akane and Kuro looked away grimly as Hoku tightened his hands into fists, fighting back the painful memories as he sat with his teammates, sharing the food he had found in the forest.

In the Hokage's office, the jonin and their Hokage stood in silence after witnessing the fight and that rain village team. They were all completely and utterly shocked at the story they had just heard, Sasuke's body shaking as he stared at his feet. That poor boy had gone through exactly what he had gone through, only worse as Hoku had been forced to watch his clan get torn apart and had gotten every dream he could have ever had crushed by his own brother. And even worse, Ichiru had destroyed their clan out of pure will and blood lust. Then that kekkei genkai, that ocular jutsu, it looked just like what was in his dream…

"That poor boy…" Sakura said mournfully, looking at Sasuke and taking him in her arms. It pained her to see Sasuke like this, so shaken up as he was. He looked at her and, once she smiled encouragingly at him, he smiled back. The smile wasn't a happy smile, but it would have to do. She knew that must have brought back memories from his own clan.

Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought. "That eye… Why haven't we ever seen or heard of it?"

Hinata began to speak; she'd been looking through books on the genin's pasts and had found a section for the rain genin that even had a little information about the eye. "It doesn't say much in here, but according to this it's called a Kyakugan. It says it's from a mysterious clan that had seemed to vanish from the face of the earth more than a thousand years ago… But that doesn't explain what's going on here. If the clan had vanished so long ago… something just doesn't add up." She shook her head in confusion.

"We'll just have to keep watching, maybe we'll get more answers," Naruto said. "And we'll have to try and get answers from this kid who's supposedly of this clan's lineage."

No one voiced anything in particular but they had all agreed. This was something they needed to look into and watch for any signs of a threat rising about. If Hoku was right, then everything happening with the sword and shield added up a bit more now and this could end up being another Madara case. At that moment, Takimashi knew she had a much larger job on her hands than she had expected with the arrival of the shield. If this man were to get his hands on the sword, they would all be done for. Would this world ever, truly be at peace?

Chapter Ten

The Second Round's End

It was the next and third day of the exam. Hideki had left to get water and some food while Imahi tended to Daiske who was sitting up and leaning against the tree roots they had hid during the night. He could feel pain from the poison but was able to bear it; for now anyway. He couldn't let his team down just because of the poison; he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he did that. He sighed as Imahi covered his wounds with a poultice she had to rub into his skin. Dokote lay next to Daiske with his head on his lap. Daiske rubbed the dog's head and felt comforted by the dog next to him.

"There, that should do it for now. You feel ok since the poison?" she asked him with a concerned tone.

He smiled and nodded in reply then she sat beside him, looking at her lap. She couldn't believe the strength those genin had had and their speed. Most of all, she was surprised Daiske had been caught off guard like that. She guessed that was Daiske's limit with his senses, but there had to have been something else happening. It wasn't like Daiske to get caught off guard like that. Even though it worried her, she knew him and she knew he wouldn't let it happen again.

"Imahi, what's it like being able to see?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow. Where was this coming from? "Well it's nothing special, really. I mean, to you I guess it would be something odd to think about. You know where you're going, what's in front of you, and what's around you, but your other senses are dulled because of it. Unlike you, I can't feel vibrations from miles away and I can't differentiate jutsu and movements as easily just by feeling vibrations in the ground or air. Though, my sense of smell is sharper but that's only from a trait of my clan."

Daiske nodded. "I see... I've kind of always wanted to know what it would be like. I can imagine what something might look like by feeling it but I can never know what it looks like exactly. To be honest, I am slightly jealous of Hideki, him having the Sharingan and all. But I accept it and know I'm just as strong even without my eye sight. I've grown up knowing what my blindness meant, but I've also always grown up fighting and improving my other senses I do have. I couldn't be happier."

Imahi smiled to herself and looked away from him for a moment. She could only imagine what it must be like to never be able to see. It must be hard to live with. She felt sympathetic toward him, but knew there was no reason to worry about him. This kid was perfectly able to fight and was strong too. She admired his wit and his will to go on. She looked at him again then began to move closer to him when he grabbed Dokote then tackled her, pushing her out from under the tree just as a paper bomb strapped to a kunai flew past them. He shielded her body and Dokote just as the bomb exploded. He got off them and Imahi looked toward the tree in shock. Where had that come from?

Just as she thought that, a squad of mist genin jumped at them from out of the bushes. They charged at Daiske and Imahi who both jumped back out of the way just as the three waterfall genin jumped down on them with kunai.

Daiske measured their chakra and realized that two of them were clones and the one in the middle was the real one. "The one in the middle is real but the other two are clones!"

Imahi nodded and ran forward with Dokote, tackling the one in the center to let Daiske handle the clones. Dokote latched onto the genin with his strong teeth and held him down as Imahi placed a hand on Dokote's back and launched herself over him and into a spin to kick down the genin who kicked his legs up in defense to push her away. As soon as she landed, she jumped at the guy again, into the air, and spun to kick at the genin's side as he recovered from his kick. Her kick pushed the genin into the ground and allowed her to get away from him, Dokote jumping to her side and snarling at the man.

Daiske was still in pain, but he fought through it. He managed to push a kunai into one of the clones and destroy it but was struggling a little more with the other. Every blow he tried to land on the clone was blocked by the clone. After a few more moments of fighting with this clone, attempting blow after blow, a force smashed into his side and sent him flying into a tree. He had been too concentrated on the clone and hadn't noticed the presence of another before it was too late.

"Ha! And they though a blind Uchiha can fight? Yeah right!" the kid said as his teammate appeared in front of Daiske, releasing the clone of him, and held Daiske against the tree.

"I know, right? Pathetic," the genin said, practically begging for Daiske to get serious; which he did.

Daiske groaned in anger then, managing to make the hand seals, he let himself melt into the tree in a genjutsu. Genjutsu wasn't his strongest form of technique, but he could still do minor genjutsus and his perception of what's a genjutsu or not was precise.

The mist genin looked at the tree in shock and backed away from it. When a yell from his teammate sounded from behind him, he whipped around and backed up into the tree as he saw another leaf genin attack his unsuspecting teammate. Hideki had shown up and had attacked from behind, kicking the genin into the air then kicking him back down. While that happened, Daiske charged out from in the tree and tackled the genin onto the ground, trapping him on the ground under him.

"Nice Hideki!" he yelled to his brother who was still engaged in combat with the other genin. Imahi was also still in a fight with the third genin but seemed to have the upper hand.

The mist genin managed to get up and dodge another attack from Hideki then began creating hand seals. Hideki activated his Sharingan quickly and watched for a moment as the genin weaved his hand seals. The jutsu was a water type ninjutsu that created a water dragon out of his mouth and aimed toward Hideki. Hideki was easily able to track the jutsu's line of attack and easily dodged it, jumping backward then he lunged forward, clanging kunai with the other genin. Hideki jumped back slightly then went forward again, punching at the genin who grabbed his fist. Just as the genin was about to jab at Hideki with the kunai, Hideki slipped his other arm up and knocked his arm back. Then he curled his body up off the ground to kick at the genin's face but ended up getting thrown back right before he was able to land the kick.

"I'll admit, you're strong, Uchiha," the genin said, leaning forward with a taunting and devilish smile as he yelled, "But what about your beloved blind brother?!"

Daiske looked in the direction of Hideki and the mist ninja once he heard that. No sooner had the kid said that, Daiske was flying into the air once again when he was grabbed around the stomach by some kind of water and earth figure. Daiske couldn't move and felt as if he was being crushed. He tried breaking through it but couldn't and was sent smashing into the ground. Hideki watched in horror then looked at the genin in front of him.

"You're messing with the wrong guy!" Hideki yelled, running at the genin and weaving the hand seals for the fireball jutsu, releasing the large inferno at his opponent.

The fire landed on its mark and had set the kid's clothes ablaze. The kid yelled and screamed but shortly after began to laugh sadistically; the laugh traveling till it was directly behind Hideki. Too quickly for Hideki to dodge, a kunai plunged into the top of his shoulder. Hideki yelled in pain and grabbed his shoulder, getting away from the genin as quick as possible and taking the kunai out. The genin raced at Hideki, reaching larger speeds than he had had before. Before Hideki could dodge, the ground broke apart and Daiske jumped up out of the hole, punching the mist genin in the chin and sending him flying into the air. Once the genin landed, Daiske punched into the genin's stomach and then shoved him into the air again. He angrily landed punch after punch on the genin in quick repetition that was almost too fast for the kid to dodge. The last punch sent him flying back into the ground.

"Here's something you should know about us, we will not let you get away with harming our brother or any of our other teammates. You just made a big mistake when you stabbed my brother," Daiske said angrily.

Hideki panted for a moment then smiled at his brother, still breathing hard. He was grateful his brother had come to his aid and wasn't hurt. He knew the last time was just a fluke, this kid had much more in him than what met the eye.

The mist genin forced himself to stand and panted to catch his breath. "No, you have made the mistake in underestimating meh-" Suddenly the kid crumpled over in pain and screamed. Daiske knew the kid had used up too much chakra, that speed he had portrayed was too much for his level and he had had to use his chakra to do it. And not only did it take a good amount of chakra, the kid had already suffered injury from Hideki and even from himself by using his chakra like he had to. The kid was at his limit; which was actually kind of sad considering he still had a good amount of chakra left. Something told Daiske there was something more to the kids weakness.

Imahi had also taken control of her fight and had beaten the last genin. The only one left was the one that had been caught by Daiske, but he wasn't in any shape to fight. So instead, he grabbed his two teammates.

"You won this fight, congratulations. But I can't give you the scroll, so goodbye and good luck," he said. Just when he was about to vanish, three new genin came out of the trees; they were Hoku, Kuro, and Akane.

Hoku stopped the mist genin and grabbed out the scroll; it was what they were looking for. He looked at the mist genin with his ocular jutsu activated. The mist genin looked at him in fear. "Leave, now."

The genin began to tremble slightly then quickly disappeared. Hoku gave a "humph" then turned to Hideki, Daiske, Imahi and Dokote.

"Hey, that scroll is rightfully ours! Get your hands off and hand it over," Imahi said, getting ready to attack.

Hoku looked at her and shook his head and chuckled. "Please, calm down. We're not here for a fight with you guys. Rather, we have a proposition for you; what if we team up? We'll work together to get the last scroll then we'll all go to the tower."

Hideki stepped forward in frustration. "Why should we trust you?"

Daiske considered this and focused on Hoku's energy and the vibration from the pulse of his heart. "He's not lying, he's being sincere," he said, causing his teammates to stare at him.

Hoku raised an eyebrow at Daiske then grinned. "Your level of perception is amazing, it really is. I admire that about you. Daiske right?"

Daiske narrowed his eyes and looked straight at Hoku. "But your resolve could change, don't think I still completely trust your word."

Hoku nodded. "I understand. But let me put it this way; the goal is to get the other scroll and make it to the tower in five days, correct? I mean, we'll have our chance to fight each other in the next round so why not join hands just to get past this one test?"

The leaf genin considered these words and looked at one another. "Can we have a minute?" Daiske asked and Hoku nodded. "What do you think?"

"If he's not lying, then what do we have to lose? We'll be able to get out of here quicker if we work together," Hideki said. Imahi nodded then they all turned to them again. "We'll work with you to get one more scroll if it means getting out of here more quickly. We accept your offer."

Hoku smiled happily. "Glad to hear it. Now, let's devise a plan while we travel toward the tower, shall we?" With that, all six genin traveled through the trees.

After an hour of traveling, they happened upon another team at last; they were waterfall ninja and they even had their scroll out in the open. It was the scroll they needed; how lucky was that?

"Ok, let's test out our plan now, then," Hoku said, activating his eye along with Hideki; the Sharingan and the Kyakugan.

Hideki nodded as they both jumped down on the waterfall genin. No sooner had they landed that Kuro jumped down after them and all three took on one of the waterfall genin each. Daiske took that as his cue and jumped down too. He searched for the scroll by taking notice where his vibrations dulled from the solid object being on the ground. By following these vibrations, he knew it was a foot away so he grabbed it and leaped away toward the tower. And even though they weren't completely taken down, Hoku, Hideki, and Kuro quickly followed Daiske into the trees. Akane and Imahi, along with Dokote, jumped down after just in time to kick the waterfall genin back to keep them from following the boys.

"You guys aren't very strong, are you?" Akane said.

The genin glowered at the two girls and the dog; Dokote growled at them. The waterfall genin were just about to attack when Imahi and Dokote tackled them with their gatsuga, furthering the genin's injuries and allowing Akane to follow after the other. Imahi smiled a wolfy grin at them then took after Akane and caught up to the boys.

"That was awesome!" Imahi exclaimed, grinning wildly.

Akane laughed and nodded. This girl was funny, definitely one that was a bit strange but also made for good entertainment. And even better, with the help of these three leaf shinobi, they were now on their way to the tower; they had all passed.

Chapter Eleven

Goodbye Forest, Hello Tournament

It was two days later and the second exam was complete. Only two other teams had made it to the tower, the Sand village team and the Mist village team that had the horse in their ranks. Hideki still wasn't sure why they would have a horse for combat, but judging from the fact they were here meant that the horse wasn't such a bad idea. He felt oddly happy that girl had passed. But what made him happier was to see their sensei, Takimashi, standing amongst the other jonin and Naruto. She smiled proudly at them and they smiled back. But not only was she there, Sasuke and Sakura were there as well on either side of Naruto.

Sasuke looked at his sons proudly. He knew they would make it, no doubt. They made him and the Uchiha name proud. Naruto turned to him.

"Isn't that a surprise? They're definitely your sons, no doubt," Naruto said.

Sasuke chuckled. "Definitely are; I'm so happy they've made it." Then he looked at the Kyakuya kid and studied him. He had a calm composure and seemed sure of himself, much like how he was when he was younger. The kid looked back and locked eyes with Sasuke, smiling kindly a moment after. Sasuke looked away at that moment and instead looked over the four teams. They all looked strong and ready for the next stage. The competition was definitely rough.

Naruto nodded and looked toward the four genin teams that had passed the second round. There was definitely no need for a preliminary round. This would certainly be the real test, if he remembered right from his turn in the exams. At last the clock struck three and the exam was determined officially closed. Naruto greeted them all with a grin and a thumb up. "Good job guys, you all pass the second exam!" he exclaimed happily. "The next step for you will be the final exam where you will fight one another. This part will be judged by the council and the Daimyo. They will decide who of you becomes a chunin. Now, line up in a single line, we have something to do before I go in with more explanation."

The genin did as told and lined up in a row facing the jonin. Daiske stood between Hoku and Hideki with Imahi on the opposite side of Hideki. Before Hoku, it was Akane then Kuro. The other two teams proceeded after Imahi with the squad from the Sand then the squad from the Mist; the horse next to its owner right at the end and Dokote sat by Imahi's side. Kiba was also amongst the jonin and looked at the girl from his clan. He wasn't surprised she had made it, that girl was strong like him and was witty. Nothing kept her down for long and her dog protected her with his life. She served her clan well and was a great fighter; he just hoped she would be able to make it through this final exam.

Naruto nodded to Ibiki who pulled out a clip board and signaled for the chunin next to him to go down the row with a box for them to grab a piece of paper out of it; each with a raised number under the regular number so Daiske would be able to read the one he grabbed. Daiske found it charming that they did this for him just because there's a blind genin among the rest. It was extremely helpful.

Once they were done being handed out, Ibiki ordered the genin to read them off starting from the left to the right. "And make sure you say your name as well." And so the number calling began.

"Kuro, I have five," Kuro told them indifferently.

"Akane, four," her and Kuro met eyes with raised eyebrows then shook their heads. They weren't fighting each other.

"Hoku Kyakuya, two," Hoku said with a smile. He was relieved about not having to fight either of his teammates; it wouldn't have been as much fun. The one he really hoped to fight against was the man right beside him.

Daiske felt the number on his piece of paper to read it and when he realized what he had gotten, he quickly regretted it. He sighed heavily before announcing his name and number. "Daiske Uchiha, I have one."

That seemed to reverberate around the room as the reality sunk in. Sasuke couldn't believe it, his son would have to go against the genin he'd hoped deeply wouldn't be his opponent. He was immediately worried about this match up but forced it back. They had a month, Daiske would be ready. On the other hand, Hoku was thrilled with the pairing. Now, he would really be able to test this kid's ability. He looked at Daiske and smiled. Even though the kid couldn't see, Hoku knew Daiske would be aware of the smile. "I guess this means we're fighting, huh. Good luck." Daiske smiled back and nodded his head. This was getting interesting.

Next it was Hideki's turn to call his number. "Hideki Uchiha, eight." That wasn't a bad number, meant he wouldn't have to go right off the bat. Still though, he would have preferred it if he'd gotten Daiske's number. But it was how it was and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Imahi Inuzuka, ten," she said, glad she wouldn't have to go against any of her teammates though worried for Daiske. Hoku's kekkei genkai was something unheard of to her and a complete mystery. So far she knew it had some properties like the Sharingan but that was all anyone knew.

All that were left were the two foreign teams, starting with a female named San from the sand. "San, my number is six."

"Kohaku, nine," said the male next to San. He met eyes with Imahi and smiled charmingly at her. Imahi returned the smile with a deathly glare that made the genin even more thrilled and he laughed. He liked girls with some edge.

Hukadoshi saw the whole thing and rolled his eyes. Of course Kohaku would try to charm his opponent, it was just like him. "Hukadoshi, twelve."

Now it was time for the Mist village genin. The first was a female that went by the name Sumire. "Sumire, I got three."

Shinata sighed in boredom and held the paper up with a hand in his pocket. "Shinata, eleven." He thought of this as a pain in the rear; he did not want to fight a shinobi from the Sand.

"And I'm Takeshi, my number's seven," she said in a cheery voice.

Hideki looked at the girl in shock. He had to fight her? This was not going to go well. The last person he wanted to fight was a female, especially one like that. These exams were going to be a blast. What next? Would he have to fight his brother too? Hideki cringed at the thought. He wanted to last till the final round, but he did not want to fight Daiske at any cost. The girl noticed he was looking at her so she met his eyes and waved. He was cute.

Hideki blushed slightly then looked away quickly, turning his eyes to Naruto.

Naruto smiled and slightly shook his head. The personalities in this group, they reminded him too much of he and his classmates. "Awesome! So, judging by your reactions, you all know who you will be fighting against in the final exam. The final exam will proceed in one month. You have the month to rest up or get some training in before the tournament, which ever you would like. And mind you, just because it's a tournament, it doesn't mean only one of you can become chunin. Regardless of how high you reach in the rounds, some of you, all of you, or none of you will become a chunin, it's at the judges, and my, discretion. If there aren't any questions you are all dismissed." He gave them a moment to ask away but none of them took the chance. "Good, you're all dismissed; see you in a month!"

They were all let go at that moment to go home, rest, and get ready for the next and final event. This was going to be very different from the other two and maybe even more exciting. Daiske sure had it in for him. Hoku was an intimidating opponent and was going to be a good match to beat. But that wasn't something to worry about for the time being, he had more to focus on for now. He planned to make good use of this month and learn as much as he could so he would be ready. There was no time to waste.

A couple days later, after some rest, Sasuke took Hideki to some kind of training ground in the center of the woods away from home. The clearing was familiar and it took a moment before he realized that this was where he and his team took the bell training test. He smiled at the memory of them beating their sensei and getting the bells, it was their first time fighting as a team. This was also where it had all began.

Sasuke turned to his son and smiled warmly. "This is where we'll be training, Kakashi will be helping as well but of course, he's late as always."

Hideki laughed for a moment before looking off to the side then back at his father. "What about Daiske? Won't he be training as well?"

Sasuke's smile fell slightly as he closed his eyes and shook his head, looking at Hideki again. "Daiske won't be training with us. It's actually kind of important that you keep the training from him, he could end up becoming your opponent. He will be told the same. Takimashi has taken charge of his training while you and I will be training your Sharingan; perhaps even show you a few new techniques, maybe even some genjutsu along the way. You understand what I'm telling you?"

Hideki nodded agreement, but he still hated this. Secrecy between his brother and him was practically nonexistent but now he had to keep secrets, Daiske too. This month was going to be harder than he had thought. He also hated the thought of having to face his brother. "Dad… what if I do have to fight him? I just can't even consider it…"

Sasuke slightly tilted his head with a raised eyebrow then looked down and sighed, putting his hands on his son's shoulders. "Hideki, we all have to do things we don't always want to do, it just happens that way. I understand that the thought is odd for you, but it might be inevitable. You just have to remember that your brother loves you more than anything and wants you to succeed; a fight won't darken his feelings about you. Even if you do fight him, it won't change a thing."

Hideki only nodded as Sasuke let him go. Just at that moment, Kakashi arrived and greeted them, coming up with some lame excuse over why he was late. When their greetings were exchanged, the training began.

Chapter Twelve

The Month before the Battle

Sakura walked down the street her home was on and was headed to get groceries. It was a week after the second exam got finished and it was a beautiful day. She smiled and soaked in the sun as she walked along. This was her day off from the hospital and she reveled in the free time. After she was done shopping, she would go to see how Daiske was doing, but first she had to get her errands done. It took her five minutes to walk to the store and when she got there, Ino ran up to her.

"Hey, Sakura! What's going on?" she asked, walking in the building with Sakura.

"Just going to get some stuff for home. We're running out of food, haha. I swear, kids eat you out of house and home," Sakura said with a laugh. She loved her boys, but man they ate a lot.

Ino laughed too. "That's for sure; how are they?"

"They're alright. Sasuke's been training Hideki and Daiske's getting some training from Takimashi. They can't seem to wait till the finals, they're so psyched," Sakura told Ino.

Ino smiled. "Oh, Sasuke; who knew he would have chosen you."

Sakura laughed aloud. She was happy Sasuke chose her instead of Ino. To Sakura, it was bound to have happened and being able to have been right all along felt great to her. Sasuke was hers and Ino would not be able to get her hands on him. Besides, Ino had accepted the defeat and was happy for her. Sakura was happy and so was Sasuke, which was what counted.

After Sakura was done getting her things, Ino helped her carry it back. When they got back and it was all put away, Sakura took Ino to where the pond was; that was where Takimashi and Daiske were. When they got there, they could see Daiske standing about ten feet from the water, standing still as he held his hands in the tiger seal. He took a deep breath and slowly began to take one of his hands away so it was only half the tiger seal. Takimashi sat next to the water, leaning against the small pier, and reading a book. She looked up just as Ino and Sakura showed up.

"Oh, hi there! What brings you to our training grounds?" she asked with a smile.

Sakura smiled back. "Just seeing what's going on. How's his training coming?" Sakura asked.

Takimashi looked at him then shrugged. "Pretty good, he's already sensing at least seventy percent better than he was a week ago and he's even getting the half hand seal down. And by the looks of it, he's just about ready to move on to the next part of his training."

Sakura nodded. "What exactly is this technique?"

Takimashi smiled mischievously. "You'll just have to wait and see, now won't you?"

Meanwhile, in the clearing with Sasuke and Kakashi, Hideki stood in front of both of them, panting with his Sharingan activated. Sasuke smiled and nodded. "You did well, Hideki. Your Sharingan's getting better and better by the minute. I think this calls for a break, don't you agree?"

Hideki smiled and laughed, deactivating his Sharingan. "I do agree. Can we get Ramen?"

Sasuke laughed and nodded. "Kakashi, you come too. I'll pay."

Kakashi smiled. "Thank you."

Once they got to the ramen shop, they ran into Naruto, who was in his old clothes and chowing down on a bowl of barbeque pork ramen. Sasuke, sneaking up to Naruto, smacked him on the back. "Well, isn't this a surprise."

Naruto coughed on a bite of ramen noodles then turned to glare at Sasuke. "What the hell was that for?!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and sat next to Naruto. Kakashi sat on Naruto's other side and Hideki sat next to Kakashi. Kakashi sighed. "You two will never fully grow up will you?"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other then at Kakashi and shrugged; which made Kakashi chuckle. "I guess that answers that; don't you think, Hideki?"

Hideki looked at Kakashi with a confused look. He had completely zoned out and hadn't been paying attention to what was going on. "Uh, yeah, sure…"

"Something wrong?" Kakashi asked as Sasuke and Naruto began talking about some kind of outrageous topics to one another.

Hideki shook his head and laughed. "No, of course not! I'm just off in my own world, I guess."

"Mhmm, I see," Kakashi said, looking at Hideki carefully. This boy was just about the spitting image of Sasuke, much more than Daiske. His demeanor was even similar, most of the time anyway. The only thing that really stood out was Hideki's hair style; since it was short in the back and didn't stand on end like Sasuke's though the way his hair flowed it gave it a messier look to it with his bangs long like Sasuke's but a bit crazier. But everything else, his facial features and his body, was the same as Sasuke's when he was younger. It was kind of nostalgic being near the kid. One thing was for sure, he had no desire for any kind of revenge like Sasuke had had. He took his eyes off of Hideki and looked at Sasuke who was laughing hard at one of Naruto's jokes. Sasuke was so much more care free since he snapped out of his confusion and came back to reality. It was a great feeling to see him the way he was now.

A moment later, everyone's ramen was served to them and they began to eat, Naruto chowing down on yet another bowl of ramen.

"I wonder what Daiske's working on… Dad?" Hideki said, looking at Sasuke with a worried look on his face.

Sasuke raised an eye brow. "I've told you once before, I can't share that information with you. You and Daiske both have to go through some training alone and this is the time-"

"That's not what I'm asking!" Hideki complained, cutting Sasuke off and clenching his hands into tight fists. Everyone looked at him. "What if… what if Daiske and I both make it to the last round? What if we have to… fight each other?"

Sasuke looked down at his hands. He wasn't quite sure how to answer that kind of question and he had hoped he never would have to. "That's something you have to figure out on your own. You will either have to fight, or you can drop out. It's your choice, I can't make it for you."

Hideki kept quiet and looked away. He hated having to make that choice. How could he fight his blind brother? "I can't stand the thought of hurting Daiske… What if I do quit, then what?" He looked at his father challengingly.

Sasuke looked back cautiously. This was a dangerous type of mood. "Then that's your choice. But do you really think Daiske will let you give up that easy?"

Hideki looked down at the table. He knew Daiske wouldn't let him give up that easy, he wanted him to be successful. If it came down to it, Hideki would have to make up his mind quickly.

It was a week later and Hideki was on his way to meet his father and Kakashi for some more training. He walked down the street, whistling to himself with his hands in his shorts pockets. It was a bright and shiny day in Konoha and he enjoyed the sun as it beamed down on the village. The street wasn't too crowded but had enough people that he hadn't expected what was just about to bolt past him. The "thing," whatever it was, nearly knocked him over and into the arms of someone else who was running after what had knocked him over. She patted off his shirt in a panick and looked horrified at what had just happened. It took him a moment to recognize the mist village genin, the one who rode the painted horse he has seen before.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry! Are you ok?" she asked hurriedly as her voice rose frantically. He shook his head. "Oh thank goodness… I don't know what happened! I was riding her then she flipped out, threw me off, and bolted away. Now I'm trying to catch her, but I just can't! I don't know what to do…"

He backed away from her, realizing she meant her horse. "Whoa, whoa, easy there. Do you need help?"

She looked at him questioningly then smiled happily. "I would love some! You don't mind?"

Hideki shook his head. "Not at all! How do we catch her?"

"I'm not sure… but we have to find her first. Let's get going that way!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm and leading him further down the street.

They both jumped to the roofs of the houses around them and jumped from one to the next, both of them heading different directions and keeping an eye out for the horse. In a few moments after they had parted ways, Hideki spotted the horse running down another street with people bracing against the walls in shock as the horse thundered through the town. Hideki jumped down, landed on the horses back, then no sooner had he made contact the horse began to buck wildly which caused Hideki to fly through the air and into something soft but firm. The grunt he heard made him look to see a man standing there and looking at him. There was another person with him as well who started laughing hysterically.

"Izumo, Kotetsu!?" Hideki exclaimed and got off of Kotetsu; who was the thing he fell into.

"What's the rush about, Hideki?" Izumo asked, smiling friendly at the boy.

"I'm trying to catch that horse! It's this girl's horse and I was trying to help her…" Hideki said, watching as the horse once again escaped.

Izumo and Kotetsu looked at each other then at Hideki with a grin. "I see, any way we can help?" Izumo asked, winking at Hideki.

Hideki wasn't sure what the wink was for, but he nodded. "That would be great, thanks."

Kotetsu smirked. "Of course! Let's get this show on the road then and get that horse."

Hideki smiled then took off onto the roofs with the two gate guards following closely behind. A moment later, Takeshi joined them.

"Are they helping?" she asked Hideki, referring to Izumo and Kotetsu.

"They are, but I don't know how we're going to catch her. You know her better than we do," Hideki explained.

"I see that. We need to split up, traveling as a group after her is only going to frighten her and keep her running. You two, get ahead of her. She's more than likely going to go into the woods rather than stay in town; go there! We'll keep following her."

"On it!" they said at the same time then left the group so it was just the two genin.

"When they come out of the forest in front of her, she'll stop. When she stops, we will have to get behind her and walk up to her slowly and calmly. Once she figures out we're only trying to get to her, she'll stop trying to run away. Understand?" Takeshi explained.

Hideki felt great respect for this girl at that moment. She obviously knew how to handle horses and he had no doubt her plan would work. From what he could tell, they had a pretty good bond and that, combined with the fact the horse must be tired out by now, the plan should work flawlessly. "I understand."

Just like he had predicted, the plan did work. As soon as the horse saw Izumo and Kotetsu, the horse stopped short of trampling them then he and the girl jumped down behind the horse, approaching slowly and quietly. The horse turned to look at them and whinnied, rearing into the air then watching them with her head low once her front hooves landed back on the ground; her ears twitched back and forth.

"Misty, you're ok, it's just us," Takeshi said, whistling shortly after. The horse snorted then walked calmly up to her, nuzzling her nose into her chest and staring into her eyes. Takeshi smiled and gave the horse a kiss on the nose. "Good girl, thanks for letting us catch you."

Hideki watched in satisfaction as the two snuggled. Izumo and Kotetsu, on the other hand, both pat Hideki on the back. Izumo leaned down to him with a smirk. "Now's your chance, go get her!"

Hideki scowled and swat at him. Izumo leaned back and laughed.

"Izumo, let the kid be. We need to be getting back to work," Kotetsu said, smiling goofily at Hideki, winking.

Hideki glared at him. "You're just as bad as Izumo…"

Kotetsu chuckled then dragged Izumo away, Izumo proceeding to laugh loudly. "Come on, numbskull, let's go," Kotetsu said, un-amused.

Hideki rolled his eyes then put his attention back on to the girl and her horse. The mist genin looked at him with a grin.

"Thanks, so much! I couldn't have done it without you. Hideki, right?"

Hideki smiled and rubbed the back of his head, laughing awkwardly and looking away foolishly. "No problem. And yeah, I'm Hideki; are you Takeshi?" He looked at her again.

"Yes, is there anything I can do to repay you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, you don't have to repay me. It was fun."

She giggled. "Alright. Well if you want, I could maybe teach you how to ride; I think I should repay you and this is how I will."

Hideki laughed. "I'll think about it."

She nodded then jumped onto her horse's back. "Ok, see you later!" Then she nudged the horse on and cantered away.

Hideki watched her leave with a smile still on his face. What a wonderful day it had been, now it was time to train some more. _Wait a minute… oh crap! I'm late!_ Hideki quickly left the area to find his father and Kakashi, who waited impatiently. Hideki felt horrible, even Kakashi had made it before him! How embarrassing. He opened his mouth to explain but Sasuke shook his head and Kakashi smiled, leading Hideki away with Sasuke following.

Chapter Thirteen

Almost Time

Hoku was on his hands and knees on the ground with the Kyakugan activated, feeling whipped out from the training he just went through as the sun beat down on him through the trees. He coughed up blood, holding his hand to his mouth, then punched the ground. "This eye… I'm never going to master it. I need to keep training!"

His sensei shook his head at him. "You're not going to train all day, you're taking a break till tomorrow."

Hoku glared at his teacher, his eyes glowing. "No, I have to go longer! We're con-," he began coughing again, more blood coming from his mouth.

His sensei looked away from the boy and avoided eye contact. "No, we're stopping. You're only going to kill yourself."

Hoku forced himself to stand, holding his stomach. "You don't understand, I'm going up against Daiske, here! If I don't master this eye level, I will be sure to lose."

His sensei looked at him with a raised eye brow. "He's blind; you'll obliterate him even without your eyes. After all, Daiske won't be able to see your attacks coming from a mile away…"

Hoku looked at his sensei challengingly, eyes still activated. "No, he's much more than that… He's a sensor type genius."

"Perhaps, or is this actually about your brother?" his sensei asked, raising his head in a challenge.

Hoku growled and dashed toward his sensei, kunai ready at his side. "This has nothing to do with him!"

His sensei smirked. This boy, he was something else.

Later that day, Daiske sat by the water's edge at the pond with his legs held against his body. It was only a week till the final round. He was now able to create his new technique; he was just in the process of refining it. Takimashi had promised him that he would have it mastered by the end of the week, but she wanted him to take a break for the day and use it to collect his thoughts and have some time to prepare emotionally. He agreed with her and new she was right. It was great to be ready with a new and better technique, but his emotions had to stay in check as well. He needed to be emotionally prepared for what was to come; especially if the scenario he feared came into play.

He could hear and feel footsteps coming up from behind him, ones he wasn't quite sure who they came from till the person spoke his name. "Hey, Daiske!"

Daiske raised a hand in the person's direction. "Hey, Kakashi."

Kakashi stopped to stand next to Daiske, looking out over the pond with his hands in his pockets. "You look distracted, everything alright?"

Daiske raised his head from his knees. "Everything is fine, just thinking."

"Is that so? Well, if you want to talk about anything, I'll gladly listen," Kakashi said, staring at the boy who only nodded and rested his chin on his knees again. He knew there was something else going on and he decided it would be best to pry a little. Unlike Hideki, Daiske wasn't as guarded. While Hideki was the spitting image of Sasuke and even had the same type of attitude, Daiske was more like his mother. He was a ball of spit fire when he wanted to be or when he was provoked, but kinder and softer. He let his guard down to people he knew, but contained himself around people he didn't. "Why don't we go for some Ramen, I'll pay."

Daiske shrugged then stood up. "Sure."

At the ramen shop, Daiske and Kakashi sat together, eating their ramen. It was quiet for a while till Kakashi began to speak. "So, what's got you thinking so much?"

Daiske shrugged then sighed. "It's just so close to time for the chunin exams, I don't know if I'm ready yet or not. I mean, I go up against Hoku in the first round. He's so much stronger than I am."

Kakashi stared at his ramen for a moment, thinking about what to say. He guessed it was about something like this. "What does Takimashi think?"

"She says I'll be ready, but how can she be so sure? And even if I am ready and I beat Hoku, then what? I understand that I'll go on to the next round, but what if when I do move up and I keep going, what if I end up facing…" Daiske's words trailed off into silence.

Kakashi chuckled silently to himself. Daiske had the same worry his brother did. Perhaps the myth about twin telepathy did exist. "You mean Hideki. He's worried about the same thing. But if you do end up facing him, what will you choose to do?"

Daiske smiled softly. "Well, I'm going to fight. But that's not the point, I don't want to have to do it."

"I understand," Kakashi said. "Too bad this wasn't the same for Sasuke…" he said, sounding nostalgic.

Daiske grunted. "What happened there was different. Itachi killed our clan and made Sasuke believe he was a criminal; Sasuke and the whole village. It's not my father's fault he wanted revenge on my uncle, it was made to happen. This, on the other hand, is fully in our choice. We either quit the exams, or fight and keep going. And with any luck, even though it sounds horrible, he, or even I, will lose a fight so that won't happen. That's my resolve."

Kakashi enjoyed this kid's determination. Even though he was blind, he could see a lot and knew what he had and wanted to do. He could see more than anyone gave him credit for. And above all else, he loved his brother and selflessly worked to help him in any way possible. If Hideki were to try and quit at the last moment, Daiske would not let him at any cost. "You sure know what you want. You've got spunk, kid."

"It's not spunk, I just don't want Hideki to fail and I certainly don't want to fail either. We're brothers, we fight together," Daiske said. And he meant that completely. Not only did they fight in combat together, they fought through life together as well; and this would just be another stepping stone to fight over.

Kakashi guessed the meaning behind the words. Just as he thought, Daiske's resolve was purely in the love for his brother. "I'm glad to hear that."

After they finished, Kakashi took Daiske home. Daiske seemed to be in higher spirits again and walked along quietly with a smile on his face. The way he held himself as he walked was amusing because he just seemed so energized compared to before. The boy reminded him of Naruto at times like this. Not only did he share the same dream as Naruto had, but he also was great at switching automatically from down and gloomy to goofy and carefree with little provision. When they got closer to home, a figure approached them from ahead. Kakashi wasn't sure who it was, but Daiske seemed to. His head shot up and looked straight ahead at the figure.

"Hoku? What are you doing here?" Daiske asked suspiciously.

Hoku smiled at the two leaf shinobi as he approached them. It seemed awfully coincidental that they met so soon before the exams. Also, he could feel the strength increase from Daiske. This feeling made him excited for the match. "I was just on my way back to the hotel for the night. It's quite the coincidence I came across you like this."

Kakashi looked over the boy. So this was Hoku, Daiske's opponent. He liked somewhat disheveled and kind of beaten as if he'd just gone through some hard training. There wasn't any kind of lust in this kid's aura and he seemed completely calm, smiling as if Daiske was a close friend instead of his enemy. "And what are you doing out here like this? Shouldn't you be training or perhaps with your team?" Kakashi asked.

Hoku looked at him, his smile disappearing. "No reason, I don't have to be baby sat, do I? If you're worried I'm going to attack Daiske or something, rest assured I have no such urge."

The way the kid was looking at him seemed like a challenge, which made Kakashi straighten up a bit more. This boy had some nerve.

"So, Daiske, how has this month been for you?" Hoku asked conversationally.

Daiske shrugged. "It's been alright. You?"

"Eh, not much different from yours, I guess. Tell me, how's Hideki doing?" Hoku asked.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He couldn't even begin to guess what this kid's fascination in the twins was about, but he felt like it could potentially be dangerous.

"Sure, you can come over. I'm sure my parents won't mind," Daiske said, bringing Kakashi out of his reverie.

Kakashi looked at them surprised. Huh? He must have zoned out and missed what they had been talking about. Hoku smiled and said thanks just as Daiske looked at him.

"Thanks for the ramen, Kakashi! See you later?" Daiske asked.

Kakashi was still confused. "Oh, um, yeah. No problem," he said while Daiske and Hoku left him there. That was fast, whatever had happened, he had completely missed it. But there was nothing he could do except watch them before shrugging it off and walking back home. "Well, time for some more Make Out Paradise… Oh, why did the series have to stop? I still don't know what happens next!"

Later on in the week, Hoku was at the Uchiha's house for the fifth day in a row. That night he had visited the house for the first time, Sasuke and Sakura had welcomed him cautiously. It took well over an hour for them to settle down and soon after, Hideki had come back to the house. When Hideki saw Hoku, he was shocked at first but also settled down. They ended up letting him stay for dinner and after that, the seemed to have taken a liking to him. Graciously, they told him to visit again when he'd left. He took them up on the offer and came back for the next few days around the same time. Every time he went to their house, he was careful to stay away from the topic of training so they wouldn't suspect him of trying to uncover any new techniques the two boys may have learned over the month. Of course, that was something he was interested in, but he was mostly interested in getting closer to them so they would trust him when it came time for whatever his brother was planning to come in to play. He was the only way for them to defeat him if something were to occur.

When he got to the house, only Sasuke and Sakura were left. Sasuke sat in the living room reading a book while Sakura was in their room picking up some things off the floor when a knock came from the door. Sasuke closed his book then opened the door to see Hoku standing there.

"Oh, Hoku! Sorry, but the boys are out right now with Takimashi and Imahi. Can I help you with anything?" he asked the boy.

Hoku tilted his head for a moment then straightened it out again when he realized what was going on. "Oh, that's ok. I was just seeing if they were here. But since they aren't, I'll just come back later."

Sasuke watched Hoku turn to walk away before deciding to say something. He was curious about this boy and wanted to know a little something. "Wait, Hoku, why don't you come with me for some shuriken training or something. By the time we get done, they should be back."

Hoku looked at Sasuke suspiciously and confused. He needed to be careful with this. "Shuriken training? Why would you want to do any training with me?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Why not? A friend of my sons is a friend of mine," he said, smiling kindly.

Hoku didn't buy it, but he decided to trust it at least a little. He was curious for what this was about. "Ok, I guess. Sounds fun," he said, smiling back.

Sasuke nodded, told Sakura he was heading out, then got on his sandals and led Hoku out to the woods to the training area he was using for Hideki's training. There, he had some targets already out for target practice that he would use to train Hoku a little.

"So, how you liking Konoha?" Sasuke asked a few minutes after they began throwing some shuriken. The kid was pretty good.

Hoku shrugged. This was kind of inspiring to be training with Sasuke Uchiha, someone so similar to himself and who knows what he's been through. It thrilled him to be here, training like this with someone of the famed Uchiha clan. "It's alright, nice village anyway. It's nice to be in a place it doesn't rain so much."

Sasuke smiled. "Glad you like it. You remind me of myself, you know. I'm not really sure what it is, but something tells me you're much like me. Can you tell me something? What's your dream? What are your goals?"

Hoku stopped throwing his shuriken then looked at Sasuke. This conversation took the wrong turn much too quickly for his liking. So that was why Sasuke wanted to do this, he wants to know more about him. "My dream? I'm not really sure… but I do have one person I'm trying to become stronger than. Someone close to me…"

Sasuke became even more interested in this. He hoped the kid would reveal at least a little about his past. "Is that so? May I know who this guy is?"

Hoku narrowed his eyes challengingly. "What's it to you?"

Sasuke kept a straight face, undaunted by the obvious threat in the boy's eyes. "I'm just curious. So, can I?"

Hoku narrowed them further than turned away. He hated having to explain these things. "His name is Ichiru Kyakuya. He's my older brother…"

"I knew there was something about you that seemed similar to me. But what I don't fully get yet is why you're so interested in trying to become stronger than him. Did he do something?" Sasuke asked.

Hoku bit his lower lip and clenched his eyes shut. The memories flooded back to him. "My family… he killed them… all of them. He destroyed every last one of them because he claimed they were 'too strong' for their own good. Then he left me. Instead of killing me off too, he just left me there. To him I'm unworthy of the time it would take to kill me, a weakling who will never be able to live up the family name. His exact words were 'you're too weak for me to give any time, any interest in trying to kill you. Your chakra is and always will be insufficient to create even the simplest of jutsu, so insufficient it will be worthless to even try to keep going on this shinobi path. Give up on all your dreams; you will never be worth even the slightest little touch it would take to hurt you in even the slightest. You will forever be weak-'."

"And will never live up to anything. Let this night haunt you for your entire life and keep running," said a deep voice from behind them. Then the voice began to laugh evilly into the night.

Hoku turned slowly, his eyes wide in utter shock and astonishment. Sasuke did the same to see a man silhouetted against the trees. When he stepped forward, Sasuke noticed how he looked almost exactly like Hoku, right down to his eye color. The one big difference was the height and this man's long black hair that slightly flowed into his face. He wore a black hooded cloak that was opened to show a deep grey vest and black pants. He also had an aura so similar to Madara and Obito's that it made him shudder slightly. This man was no doubt the one Hoku just spoke of.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, glaring at this newcomer, the man named Ichiru Kyakuya.

The man smiled dauntingly at Sasuke, chuckling. "Nothing concerning either of you, for now. I was just passing through when I saw my little, darling brother playing with some shuriken like he can actually handle them."

Sasuke already despised this man. He was nothing like Itachi. This man didn't kill his clan for the sake of a village. No, he killed his clan for the pure joy and thrill. He was the essence of evil. "Your brother is worth more than you give him credit for. Who do you think you are, anyway?"

Ichiru laughed again. "Itachi was a good man, wasn't he? You really turned into a brilliant shinobi due to his provisions and influence. Oh, and you probably also believe that him and your clan have amazing power that no one can even begin to compare. Well I'll tell you something, you're completely and utterly wrong. Compared to me, your beloved brother was insignificant and weak. A failure at best. If he really wanted to be successful-."

"Enough! Don't say another word about Itachi, you and him are nothing alike to even compare. If you think you can just walk into this village and insult my clan like that, you're the one who's wrong," Sasuke said, getting ready to attack.

Hoku put a hand on Sasuke's arm. "No, he'll destroy you. One look and you'll be under his control or even worse, dead."

Sasuke looked at Hoku in confusion then back at Ichiru. Suddenly, he couldn't move. Not even an eye lid could be moved. He didn't understand, what was this all of a sudden? Within moments, Sasuke was on the ground, screaming and writhing in immense pain, one hundred times worse than even the Tsukuyomi could inflict on a person. He could even feel his organs shutting down inside him, one at a time, slowly and painfully. It was as if he was dying, but he couldn't lose consciousness. It took him a while to realize that this man had a kekkei genkai activated, the kekkei genkai he presumed was none other than the mythical ocular jutsu; Kyakugan. All sounds and other senses were being cut off as he slowly became weaker and weaker. He knew what was happening then, Ichiru was slowly killing him with this jutsu.

Hoku watched in agony as Sasuke screamed and writhed on the ground in pain. It was just like what had happened to his family. He quickly fell to the ground next to Sasuke and yelled, trying to get Sasuke to calm down. "Sasuke! No! Stop this, please just push it away! It's just an illusion!" he yelled, panicking.

Ichiru laughed. "Oh, brother. You're hilarious. You, of all people, should know that this is not an illusion. He's slowly dying and there's nothing you can do about it," Ichiru taunted.

Hoku felt as if his heart was going to explode. This was horrible. "You bastard! Let him go! He's not your target!" Hoku screamed helplessly at his brother.

Ichiru shrugged, letting the jutsu off of Sasuke. "Meh, fine I'll let him go; doesn't mean he's going to live." Ichiru watched as Sasuke suddenly stopped screaming, his eyes wide open in terror and pain. His breathing was slow and shallow and both Ichiru and Hoku knew that he was at the edge. "Hah, as I'm sure you can see." Ichiru turned to leave. "Good luck in the exam, Hoku; I'll be watching." Then he was gone.

Hoku stared in horror at the spot his brother had just stood. He would be watching? Hoku didn't understand. He had no clue what Ichiru could be planning. He turned his attention back to Sasuke. He had to do something, there wasn't any time left. "Sasuke, please hang in there! Please, just don't die! I'm going to get help, just please, don't die!" He yelled then took off in the direction of the house. Once there, he burst through the door in a panic, surprising the twins and their mother with his sudden appearance.

"Hoku, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And where's Sasuke?"

"He's in the woods, you have to come quickly! He's dying!" Hoku screamed, his voice rising into a screech.

Sakura gasped. "No…" she said in a shaky voice.

"I'll explain later, but we have to get out there!" he yelled, taking Sakura by the hand and forcing her to follow. Hideki and Daiske looked at each other in horror then rushed after them.

_No, dad! Please, please be ok! _Daiske thought to himself. He couldn't stand the thought of his father dying.

When they reached him, Sakura threw herself to the ground and checked Sasuke's pulse, her body shuddering convulsively in fear of losing her loved one. It was extremely dull and his breathing was minimal at best. Tears flooded from her eyes as she picked him up in her arms, dashing for the hospital. All three boys followed quickly as they made their way to the hospital. As soon as they got there, Sasuke was rushed into emergency immediately. The four of them sat outside the door and waited. It must have been hours after they got there that a doctor finally came out, his face grave.

Sakura rushed to the doctor in a panic. "What is it? Please say he's going to be ok." Her voice was shaking with fear and just above a pleading whisper.

The doctor looked at her. "I can't say for sure, but I promise you, we will do all we can. Please, just hang tight. We'll be moving him to a new room where you can be with him. We've done all we can do for now, we will just have to wait and see."

Sakura stared at him with her eyes wide in disbelief. "No… he has to be ok!"

The doctor shook his head and put a hand up toward her. "I'm sorry, but only time will tell if he will make it or not. Whatever happened to him, it left most of his organs almost completely shut down. We will have hourly shifts on him to perform a healing technique on him, it's all we can do. We will know in a couple days if he has a chance or not."

Sakura fell back onto the bench, staring at her lap. How could this be happening? Hoku stared ahead, his head low and eyes wide open from the shock of what occurred. Ichiru's attack hung in his mind, forcing his past memories flood into his mind and leaving him cold and lifeless. All the while, Sakura and her two boys cuddled into each other, all three of them terrified for their father and husband. Why did Ichiru do this?

Chapter Fourteen

The Final Exam

It was three days later and four hours before the final exam started. Even though it was time at last, the two Uchiha boys had something else on their minds completely; their father was still bed ridden in the hospital. The doctors still doubted he would recover and expected that he wouldn't have much time left. The news had struck them all hard and they had been drained of all their energy. Both of the boys sat in a lounge located near their father's room quietly. Daiske had his head resting on his arm and he picked at the table, feeling its smooth surface on his hand. Across from him, Hideki leaned back in his chair, looking out at the sky above. For them, everything seemed to be falling apart all at once.

"Hideki," Daiske said feebly. "What if father doesn't recover? What if he… died?"

Hideki looked at his brother with a grimace on his face. He didn't even want to think of that. "He will recover, I know he will. There is no doubt in my mind he will live."

Daiske shrugged and didn't say anything else. He didn't have the heart to try and argue anything. In the room, Sakura sat in a chair with her head resting on Sasuke's chest. This was the fourth time that day she couldn't stop herself from crying. Tears ran from her eyes and on to the blanket over his motionless body. His feint breathing was the only thing that made any part of his body move. She stayed there like that for well into the next hour, when she felt a hand in her hair. She sniffed and looked up to see Sasuke peering at her weekly.

"Sakura… What happened?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

She couldn't stop herself; she threw her body onto him and hugged him tight, kissing him on both his cheeks. "Oh, thank goodness you're ok!"

He raised an eyebrow as the memories came back to him. He had nearly been killed by that Ichiru guy; it was a miracle he was still alive. Just then, Hideki and Daiske, upon hearing the sudden commotion, burst through the door and hugged him tight too. "Dad, you're ok!" Daiske exclaimed excitedly.

Sasuke chuckled. "Whoa, easy there! Shouldn't you two be getting ready for the exams?" he asked with a warm smile. His body was still in pain but he refused to let it bother him.

"Of course! We were just waiting to see if you would wake up before it started. Can you come to it?" Hideki asked.

Sasuke nodded. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. Even if I have to have medical ninja take me, I will watch your match. Just remember, go get 'em and blow everyone away!"

The two twins grinned then ran out of the room to get ready. Neither of them could believe this had happened. Their father was going to be ok.

Sakura watched them leave with a smile then looked at Sasuke. "You sure? You just woke up, I doubt they'll want you to leave the hospital…"

Sasuke snickered. "And like that has stopped me before." Sakura laughed at that, feeling great. And in three more hours, it would be time at last.

About a mile from the arena, resting on a tree branch that allowed him to watch what was going on, Ichiru waited for the exam to start. He was excited to see his brother fight after all these years and he knew Hoku would lose. He still believed the kid was too weak to even hurt a hair on a person's body. To him, his brother was a piece of worthless trash. Another thing on his mind was that Sasuke Uchiha. Even though he knew better, he had a feeling that Uchiha was still alive.

In order to get a better view, Ichiru activated the seeing technique of his Kyakugan that allowed him to see from more than a mile away. With this, he was able to get a clearer view of the arena and what went on in it. Only two hours left before the first match. Ichiru grinned.

Daiske and Hideki entered the arena together. This was the big day and both of them were feeling kind of nervous. Daiske grabbed his brother's arm and smiled.

"Hideki, this is actually happening," he said, excitement coursing through every word.

Hideki nodded. "I know."

All the other genin were gathered in the center of the arena where the two Uchiha boys joined them. Daiske could feel everyone's high energy. But only one stood out among the rest. This energy approached him and met him just as they reached the group.

Hoku smiled at the twins. "Hey, how is everything?" he asked. He still felt guilty about Sasuke and he hoped everything was ok. If Sasuke died, he didn't know what he would do with himself.

"Everything's fine. Our father's alive still, he woke up this morning," Hideki explained, feeling excited.

Hoku grinned happily. "That's great! Is he coming to watch?"

Hideki looked at Daiske who shrugged then nodded. "He said he's going to try."

Hoku nodded then joined his team again. Hideki and Daiske did the same and joined Imahi who had Dokote sitting next to her. Once Dokote saw Hideki, he barreled toward him and tackled him to the ground, licking his face and barking. Hideki pushed the dog off and whipped his face, glaring at the animal. He hated that dog.

Imahi watched and burst out laughing; everyone else did the same though they tried to contain it. Hideki could feel the heat rise to his face as he stood up and grumbled something unintelligible at the dog then grunted and crossed his arms angrily. A moment later, a hand touched his shoulder and he whipped around to see Takeshi standing behind him with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Hideki! Good luck today," she said with a giggle.

He smiled and nodded. "You too." He looked around for a moment and was shocked; no Misty to be seen. "Where's Misty?"

Takeshi shrugged. "She's just outside the gate. When our match comes they're going to let her into the arena.

Hideki nodded in understanding. The horse was too big to fit in the sitting area where they would have to wait for their matches; it made sense to have her outside. "Oh, ok ha ha! Well, hopefully everything goes well."

Takeshi smiled brightly at him. She liked him. He was such a nice guy and pretty cute as well. She enjoyed him.

Up in the stands, Kakashi and Takimashi sat next to each other with Gai and Lee next to them. Also near them sat Tenten, Ino, Kiba, Shikamaru, and many of the others as well. Everyone was excited to see the genin fight for the title of Chunin; they especially couldn't wait to see if the two twins really would end up fighting one another. Takimashi hoped that wouldn't happen, but she couldn't control it. The most she could do was hope. Across from their section, she could hear them talking about a certain blind genin who will be fighting the first fight. Daiske was certainly this year's favorite.

Out of all the rookies from years before, only two were absent. Sasuke and Sakura still hadn't made it and Takimashi started to get worried. Had Sasuke made it? She hoped he did, for the twins' sake. And no sooner had the thought crossed her mind, Sakura and Sasuke made their way to where they were all sitting. Sakura held one of Sasuke's arms over her shoulders and braced him up against her. Takimashi waved them down and to two seats next to her; there were four left in the entire row. Sakura sat down next to Takimashi and helped Sasuke sit on the other side of her.

Takimashi smiled at them. "Glad you two made it! How you feeling Sasuke?"

At that moment, everyone looked at Sasuke; even a few who weren't included in their group. He smiled weakly. "I'm alright. My body still hurts but it's nothing I can't handle."

"That's a relief," Takimashi said.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke for a moment longer till something, or rather someone, caught his attention. Some people looked away but the group just kept looking at the man standing there.

"May I sit here, Sasuke?" he asked in his sly voice.

Sasuke smiled faintly at him. "Sure, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru grinned then sat down. Tsunade came in after him and sat as well. "I'm certainly looking forward to watching your sons fight, it should be an awfully good show. Tell me, how are they coming with their training?" Orochimaru asked.

"Well I've only been training Hideki with the sharingan. He's been doing pretty good. He's ready for this exam," Sasuke explained proudly. He was very proud of Hideki and how well he was getting used to the sharingan. It had been much like himself.

"Is that so? How about Daiske? Who has been training him?" Orochimaru asked. The two Uchiha twins intrigued him with how much they were like their father in looks and personality. He hadn't been around them much so they were just about a mystery to him. Sakura didn't trust him so, not wanting to go against his wife, Sasuke didn't allow them to be around him much. He could understand considering everything he had done.

"I'm the one who's been training Daiske. And like Hideki, he's taken to his training well. You'll see in his fights, he's grown a lot in that month," Takimashi said, grabbing Orochimaru's attention quickly.

This female, he didn't know who she was. He could tell, though, that she wasn't just some random stranger asked to take the two young Uchiha under her wing, she was chosen for a true reason. Even though he had no clue who she was or what she was capable of, he could tell she was a worthy shinobi who held much power and influence among her peers. The rise of these new shinobi in this village was truly amazing; so many great and powerful shinobi prospects.

"I bet you two are very proud of them, aren't you guys?" Tsunade said, winking at Sakura.

Sakura smiled. "Yes, we're very proud. They've done so well."

Tsunade looked at her for a while longer then switched her attention toward the arena. The first match was about to start.

Daiske blew out a heavy breath of air as he tried to collect his nerves. Hearing the rules and how there could potentially be death, he was worried he wasn't ready. He had no clue how advanced Hoku was with his kekkei genkai and hoped that it was nothing like what Ichiru, Hoku's older brother, was capable of.

Hoku looked at Daiske, smiling. At last, he would have a go at this kid. His body just about shook with excitement and he felt thrilled. This was going to be great.

The proctor, Genma, finished his speech to the genin then looked toward the ground, signaling everyone but Hoku and Daiske to go up to the waiting booth. Once they were up and waiting, he addressed the crowd. "Our first match will be Hoku Kyakuya against Daiske Uchiha!" The crowd roared at the announcement of their names and Hoku and Daiske turned to face each other.

Daiske could feel his gut clench as he felt Hoku's stare. He made sure to concentrate on the environment around him. He could feel Hoku's excitement, the crowds enthusiasm, and he was able to map out the area. It was a large circular arena with a few trees at the edges here and there, a few boulders, and some shrubbery that circled the open space around them. He sensed this by picking up on the vibrations, the smells, and the sounds around him and pushing out his own energy to bring in theirs. He was sure to keep in mind his technique and the training he had gone through, trying to reassure himself that he was ready.

Hoku, on the other hand, had no need to concentrate on anything but his course of action. He guessed that in order to get the fight on its way, it would be up to him to make the first move. As soon as the proctor gave the cue to begin, Hoku activated his Kyakugan. He could only imagine the reaction the people in the stands would have after seeing this. Surely most, if not all, had no clue anything like this existed. The over lapping pentagrams, the Japanese symbols, all surrounded in a purple, mystical fog that flowed around his corneas and seeming like a lavender veil in his eyes. The crowd had been quiet at first, but now, they were roaring with excitement. Suddenly, he watched as Daiske held up one hand and created a one-hand hand sign. Hoku raised an eyebrow as hundreds of small flames appeared and floated around the arena and Daiske. They didn't float in any set pattern, just anywhere and everywhere. What was this jutsu?

Daiske could sense Hoku's confusion and smiled. "I suppose you want to know what this is? Well, thanks to my sensei, I developed this technique so I could sense your jutsu. Each of these flames has my chakra flowing through them and each are connected by invisible chakra strands that ultimately admit signals back to me. These signals provide a rough sight of your jutsu."

Hoku narrowed his eyes. Leave it to Daiske to learn something like this. His fight just turned into something much harder than he had expected. And judging by the look on Daiske's face, he had guessed as much. He couldn't help but admire Daiske's ability.

Takimashi grinned as everyone looked at her. She shrugged. "What can I say? The kid's a genius when it comes to sensing techniques."

Hoku grunted. "Well, you have definitely put me in a pinch here."

Daiske began to formulate a plan in his mind; what should he use for the first attack?

Hoku waited for a moment before he got tired of waiting for Daiske to make a different move. So, he decided to test this new ability, see how well it worked. He performed the hand seal sequence for the senbon rain jutsu that would cause the sky to rain senbon on Daiske.

Daiske widened his eyes at the sudden attack and, with seconds to spare, he avoided the senbon with ease. Just with this little move, he felt exhilarated. It was almost as if he possessed sharingan in a way without actually activating it. He then made use of the dodge by running at Hoku. He felt his energy and ran toward the epicenter; meaning Hoku.

Hoku watched with his eyes and held up his arms just in time to block Daiske's kick that was followed by a punch at Hoku's head. Hoku reacted quickly and threw Daiske away. As soon as Daiske landed, though, a shroud of senbon came flying at him. Somehow, Daiske had managed to create a substitution that gathered the senbon into his body then, upon impact; the explosion of the clone caused the senbon to be sent flying out at Hoku. Hoku grunted at the fact he hadn't seen it coming. Had his ability with the kekkei genkai really not gotten better over the month? This made him angry.

Daiske sat in a tree at the edge of the arena. The new technique had made a great improvement. The clone had slowed Hoku down a little and provided Daiske some time to think the situation through. That kind of trick wouldn't work again so he had to devise a different plan. One thing he had to do was somehow cause Hoku to deactivate his eyes. Those eyes were dangerous and needed to be kept in check; but how? Daiske decided that maybe a genjutsu might help. Whether or not Hoku would see it with his eye, that was a different question. So, he used a technique Takimashi had advised him might work in a case like this; he made the hand sign again and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and conjured his chakra then sent it out using the chakra strings. By doing so, he was sending signals to the individual flames to glide closer to Hoku, making hypnotic patterns. Daiske then began to murmur a little chant that was just a small hum only he could hear. With any luck, the pattern the flames made around Hoku would confuse his mind and make him so he couldn't see straight.

Hoku watched the flames as they began to move around. He didn't understand what was going on, but he could feel himself get dizzier and dizzier as he gazed at the flames. Also, his head began to pound as his Kyakugan began to waver and he could hardly see straight. This technique, just what was it? Then, all of a sudden, a huge ball of fire came flying at Hoku. Hoku, seeing it with his Kyakugan, jumped out of the way just in time. Only, this wasn't the only fireball coming. What seemed like a barrage of them were flying in his direction which made him jump this way and that in order to evade them. This sudden burst of fire confused him and he couldn't figure out how these fire balls were coming at him. Surely Daiske didn't have enough chakra to fire all these fireballs at him. Then it hit him, this was a genjutsu Daiske somehow conjured up using his flames. Now that he knew what it was, how could he stop it?

Up in the waiting booth, Hideki stared at what was happening below. This was nothing he had seen his brother use before. It astounded him that Daiske had improved like this. Another thing he couldn't figure out was what Hoku kept trying to evade. He guessed that Hoku was caught in some sort of genjutsu. His brother was truly amazing.

Daiske studied what was going on through the flames flying about around Hoku. By doing so, he knew that Hoku was jumping every which way and that as he tried to avoid the fireballs in the genjutsu. Daiske was thrilled that it was actually working. Now it was his chance to strike. The young Uchiha jumped from the tree and ran at Hoku. As soon as he was close enough, he jumped forward, slid on the ground at Hoku's feet, then tried to kick up at him for the lion's barrage.

Hoku saw this coming and, knowing what Daiske was trying through his eye, he leaped into the air and summersaulted over Daiske. For a split second, Hoku closed his eyes. Then, when he opened them again, the pentagrams in his eyes had rolled closer into each other slightly and Hoku could see the chakra network in Daiske's body; the source of chakra as well was visible. If he were to go after the center, he would completely disable Daiske's chakra. But if he did this, he would have to be out of the chunin exams for the rest of it due to how much chakra it would take to interrupt Daiske's own. Even hitting the chakra points was enough to wear him out. But it was the only way to even begin to disable Daiske's technique. If only he could figure out the jutsu's weakness, but he couldn't. The chakra points was his best bet.

Daiske concentrated on his surroundings again. He knew where Hoku was from feeling the vibrations from where he landed but he had to be ready for the next attack. No sooner had he thought it, Hoku advanced on him. It was only right before he attempted a blow did Daiske get the signal from the flames what Hoku was doing. He could feel the chakra from his ocular jutsu shift and he was able to recognize the jab Hoku aimed at Daiske's body. There was chakra built up into Hoku's palm like with the Hyuga's gentle fist. The only thing, though, was Hoku would also be able to see Daiske's movements. This was not going to go too well; unless Hoku wasn't that adept at his eye yet. As Hoku jabbed at Daiske, Daiske did his best to dodge every one of them. They came fast and in different directions after another. After a little while of doing so, Daiske got tired of trying to dodge and instead he weaved hand signs quickly then began to tunnel into the ground.

Hoku tried to follow what was going on. It made him angry that he could see the chakra points but not Daiske's movements. The Kyakugan was a difficult ocular jutsu to learn and took a long time to advance. At the moment, he was limited to one level at a time. Hoku grunted and ran toward a tree where he jumped into it to keep off the ground. He knew Daiske would come up eventually but wouldn't be able to appear in a tree from under the ground so he assumed it would be the best way to hide. It also provided him some time to think. He felt as if the fight was going nowhere at all. Though, since Daiske was blind, he guessed that the crowd was enjoying themselves. Then, out of his peripheral vision, he could see a flame fly next to him. The way it moved seemed different from the others and it seemed to flicker within itself. As the flickering got faster and faster, the flame got bigger and bigger. He immediately switched to the seeing level of his Kyakugan, the pentagrams rolling back out again, and he could see that there was chakra flowing faster and faster with a growing stream. At that second, the flame all of a sudden burst; it was a flame bomb. There was a huge cloud of fire that blasted Hoku out of the tree and back toward the ground. He was free falling with no way to stop himself.

All of a sudden, Daiske jumped through the ground and catapulted himself above Hoku using a clone. As soon as he was high enough but still close to Hoku, he spun in the air and kicked Hoku hard in the stomach. This movement sent Hoku smashing into the ground.

Hoku glared, angry at himself. He had been so stupid and didn't see this coming. His ocular jutsu was too weak to be of help to him in a situation like this. Also, Daiske was something else. How he could send extra chakra into a single flame out of so many like that was amazing to him. He wasn't able to stand, the bomb and smashing into the ground did its toll on his body, but he was able to force out a few words even though he coughed up blood in the process. "H-how did you do it?"

Daiske shrugged. "Each flame sends a signal to me and lets me know if anyone is at a certain point and if there is a jutsu coming at me along with the type. It's a more advanced type of sensing jutsu Takimashi helped me create that benefited my abilities. There was already a few flames near the tree that alarmed me you were there and since there are chakra strings leading to each one from my body, I am able to pump my chakra into them and use each individually or in a group; that's how I was able to create the genjutsu and the explosion."

Hoku stared up at Daiske as the fight was called to a close and the paramedics came out with a stretcher to take Hoku away. "Daiske, good luck on the rest of the exam. You're something else, you really are." He smiled and managed to give Daiske a thumb up right before he was taken away at last. Daiske was then led up to the booth where he was met by an excited Hideki and Imahi who both hugged him closely with loud good jobs.

Up in the stands, everyone roared in exhilaration. Sasuke, hardly able to contain himself, jumped from his seat and yelled out happily with a wide grin on his face. He pumped a fist into the air and yelled; "Yes! That's my son! That was ama-," he grabbed his side and sat down. Even though he was in pain from jumping, he still grinned.

Sakura laughed and hugged him. "Easy there, I understand but you're still not completely better."

Orochimaru shook his head and chuckled. That fight really had been quite amazing, especially since a blind shinobi was able to over throw an ocular jutsu. The eye was new to him and seemed very intriguing. He wondered if they knew anything about it. "What was that ocular jutsu? That's nothing I've ever seen before," Orochimaru asked, causing everyone to look at him. Each of them looked at each other confused; they didn't know what it was either.

Sasuke was the one to speak. "That ocular jutsu is the Kyakugan. It's only ever been seen as a myth and is rarely talked about. It's been said that the clan had disappeared off of the face of the earth completely hundreds of years ago. That kid's last name is Kyakuya and he is of the Kyakuya clan, the mythical clan that is heir of that ocular jutsu. According to Hoku, the hidden rain had kept the clan as a secret and was only ever sent out in dire situations. Though, they weren't even allowed to partake in the war against Madara and Obito for reasons unknown to even Hoku. And like me, Hoku has lost his whole clan all because of one man; his older brother named Ichiru Kyakuya, the man who nearly killed me with his kekkei genkai."

Everyone stared at Sasuke as they took this all in. This clan seemed to have been strong beyond belief and this jutsu of theirs was threatening and terrifying, perhaps more so than the mangekyo sharingan.

"Does this mean that that kid has more to him than this?" Tsunade asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "To me, it seems like he hasn't fully grasped the current powers of that eye he possesses. I can't be completely sure about it, but if he was adept to it, he should have been able to see through that genjutsu much more clearly than he did. If he was any better than what he showed, Daiske wouldn't have stood a chance. But eventually, yes, there is much more to him than what you see here. After all, with hardly even a look Ichiru nearly killed me with his Kyakugan."

Orochimaru chuckled. "It seems to me that this eye technique is far more terrifying than even the rinnegan; how interesting."

Chapter Fifteen

Tournament Continues

The fights preceding the first went at about the same speed and roused just about the same excitement the first had. To Daiske, though, it was just a bunch of talking, yelling, and other loud noises. He had cut off his sensing in order recuperate from his fight with Hoku so Hideki had taken it as his job to tell Daiske what was happening while the fights went on. The fight directly after his was a mist kunoichi named Sumire against Akane from Hoku's group. Both of the females had gone right at each other from the beginning and started out strong, but as the fight went on, it was clear who the winner was. Akane had administered a "hiding in the rain" technique that had allowed her to go invisible. And since Sumire didn't have much on the ninjutsu or sensing side, she hadn't seen the blow that knocked her down coming at her. The match was over with that and Akane was the winner. Daiske knew that that meant he would have to fight against her. He took it as a splendid challenge for himself and welcomed the opportunity.

After that match it was Kuro from Hoku's group and a female named San from the hidden sand group. Right from the get-go, San was clearly going to be the winner. She had twin swords that she fought with and she was exceptional at using them. Her swords combined with her earth techniques and she was invincible; especially when it came to fighting a guy like Kuro. He was so egotistical about himself that he hadn't taken her seriously which bit him in the butt hard. He did attack after attack using weapons and even tried the senbon rain technique. Every one of them was easy for San to evade and as soon as she had a clear shot at him, she charged in. She swung her swords at him in blinding speed that was too quick for Kuro and ended up cutting him down; literally. Her swords sliced through his flesh as she swung at him then to add to this finishing blow, she performed an earth element technique that just about crushed Kuro's body with the ground around him. At that moment San was named victor and Kuro was sent to the infirmary.

Then finally, it was time for Hideki to go against Takeshi. Hideki met eyes with Takeshi who nodded encouragingly at him with a smile. He smiled back and made his way out to the battle field with Takeshi following. Once they were in the center of the arena with Genma and facing each other, the gates opened and Misty came charging in. She stopped by Takeshi's side then snorted. Takeshi laughed and pat the horse's thick, muscular neck. Hideki smiled at that and shook his head. This fight was going to be great.

Genma looked at both of them and nodded before announcing their match. "Now, for our fourth match, it will be Takeshi versus Hideki Uchiha!"

The crowd roared in excitement and Hideki's stomach churned. The time had finally come and he knew he was ready. He wasn't quite sure what this girl's fighting style was but he sure was about to find out. As soon as Genma was done speaking, Takeshi smirked and launched herself onto Misty's back then both suddenly disappeared. Hideki had had hardly any time to react and nearly froze. What was that? He quickly activated his sharingan and looked around for her. The hand signs she had woven were so quick he hadn't had time to see which ones she used or even be able to register she had made any. This was not what he had in mind for this fight. Then slowly the arena became misty and he was nearly blinded. But, thanks to his sharingan, he could still see at least a little. He had to do something quickly or he was going to lose awfully soon. When he thought about it, this would have been the perfect fight for Daiske with his sensing jutsu. The situation even made him feel a little jealous of his brother's new technique.

Up in the stands, Sasuke was completely shocked and so were Kakashi and Sakura. This girl was good, almost too good to be a genin. She wasn't going to be an easy opponent for Hideki.

Hideki drew a kunai so he had it ready if he needed it. He had been warned of this jutsu by his father and Kakashi but they had doubted she would be able to create it. Plus, the way she disappeared before the mist came was astonishing to him. It had all happened so fast. At that moment, he decided he needed to try and focus with his hearing. He closed his eyes and tried hearing for her, but not a single sound came. It was also at that moment he noticed he was no longer able to hear the crowd even. Then, all of a sudden, Misty came charging at him; but no Takeshi. He scrambled to get out of the way just as the horse disappeared again into the fog. A second later he heard laughing and knew it was her. "What's so funny?!" he yelled angrily.

"You. No offense but how you are trying to dodge Misty and locate me are just all too humorous. I mean, what? You can't see me with your eyes? I thought the sharingan had more than this," she said, laughing again.

He growled. "You just wait! I'll figure out where you are, just wait and see!" he yelled.

He focused harder with his sharingan and tried to use the sound of her voice to locate her vicinity. While she had been talking, he had been trying to figure out her location the whole time. He just needed her to…

"May I tell you something, I can hear your thoughts," she said as she laughed harder.

That had been her mistake. After hearing her talk again, he knew exactly where she was. He concentrated his eyes on that spot and was able to see a slight shadow on the ground. It began moving rapidly and he watched it intently. As soon as it stopped, he quickly wove hand signs and created a genjutsu Kakashi taught him just in case this happened. If she was at a higher level, the genjutsu wouldn't have worked as well. But since she wasn't, it was bound to be successful. Using this genjutsu, he created a lay out like a vine forest to confuse her and even trap her. He smiled as he heard her struggling while she tried to figure her way around. This was his perfect chance. All her noise drew him to her exact location so he swiftly approached her. He wove hand signs again and stopped on the tiger seal. _Fireball jutsu!_ He put a finger to his mouth then bent forward and created the fireball. It instantly caught the dry vines on fire. Then, at that second, there was a frantic neigh as Misty charged the vines, breaking them off and allowing Takeshi to break free and get on her back. Not only did this save Takeshi, but the jutsu was broken and the mist cleared up. Hideki let go of his genjutsu at that moment and turned to her and the horse. She had a few marks on her skin from the fire but nothing that was dangerous to her. She also looked angry and kind of shocked.

"Well, congratulations! You broke my jutsu. My chakra was getting low anyway. But rest assured, this fight is not over," she said, smiling as Misty charged Hideki.

Hideki was able to watch them with his sharingan and evaded the attack easily. He took that moment to double back and jump onto Misty's back. With the same motion as when his foot landed on the horse, he spun and kicked Takeshi off. She landed hard on the ground and even bounced a little. She got back up quickly just as Misty started to buck. Hideki jumped off the horse, aimed at Takeshi, and almost was able to kick her again but she got up and out of the way just in time. Once his foot landed, he spun again and kicked at her. She grabbed his foot and pulled him toward her. When he was close enough, he went to kick at her with his other foot but she caught that one too. Then, too quickly for him to react, she spun him then threw him away from her. She whistled and Misty ran at her and allowed Takeshi to get back on her back again. The horse then turned as ran at Hideki. Again he followed the horse with his sharingan. Only instead of attacking him, the horse slid to a stop then started to spin on her haunches quickly. Takeshi stood up on her back and weaved hand signs. He watched with the sharingan and recognized that it was a water type jutsu and saw a dragon be formed and fly directly at him. He wove hand signs again to create the fireball jutsu and blasted it at the water jutsu. He knew the water would just put out the flame but the flame would make the water evaporate and stop the dragon. Once they collided, they did as he thought and cancelled each other out. Then he threw multiple shuriken at her with his hands. They sailed toward her at just about blinding speed. But what he didn't expect was her to sit on the horses back, the horse spinning, surprisingly, even faster, and she created a half hand seal and stuck her free hand in the air. The spinning combined with her administering her chakra created a tornado-like wind to come from around her. He took a closer look and noticed that it wasn't wind, but a vortex of spinning water that flung the shuriken away from her. Then, with a simple tap of her foot, Misty lunged forward toward Hideki again only to disappear in front of him again. He stared at the spot for a moment then turned around as he searched for her. He was not going to fall for this again.

Once again, he focused intently at the area around him. With his sharingan, he was able to find her chakra signature and followed it with his hands. He weaved hand signs again, only more than he had before. This time, he drew chakra into his feet and ran toward where the chakra was coming from. By concentrating the chakra into his feet and using it to compel himself forward, he was much faster at running than before. He finally stopped weaving hand signs then held his hands to his mouth; they created the ram hand sign. With the hand sign at his mouth, he created another genjutsu that Sasuke had helped him to create. It made the victim feel as if they were paralyzed and would force them to stay still because of it. He could see her chakra stop as she became trapped in the genjutsu. At last, her and Misty were no longer invisible and, keeping with his quick speed, he blasted her into the air. While in the air, Hideki jumped up to her, grabbed her around the waist and then spun her so her head was toward the ground. When they got close enough to the ground, he let go of her, spun, and kicked her in the side and sent her smashing into the ground. He landed a few feet from her, panting cause he was out of breath, and waited for her to move. Genma looked from one to the other and when he confirmed she could no longer move and was whipped out, he raised his hand to signal the stop then pointed it toward Hideki.

"The winner is Hideki Uchiha!" he announced, smiling at Hideki.

Hideki smiled back then shrugged. He felt bad for having to hurt her like that, but he had to win somehow. She was definitely one of the strongest ninja he had fought so far. All these moves she made were amazing and completely not what he expected. The paramedics came down and put her in a stretcher to take her out of the arena. When she passed Hideki, she smiled at him.

"Good luck on the rest of the exam," she said as they took her away.

He smiled and waved at her then made his way back up to where the other genin were. He couldn't wait for his next fight.

Up in the stands, once again Sasuke was jumping out of his seat. It took both Sakura and Orochimaru to put him back in his seat so he wouldn't hurt himself. Orochimaru chuckled; he knew Sasuke's sons would put on a good show.

The rest of round one seemed to drag on as the second round neared. Hideki and Daiske were excited about their next match, which made it go that much slower. The next match had been Imahi and a sand shinobi named Kohaku. Kohaku seemed more interested in flirting than actually fighting. He kept trying to sweet talk her which only made her annoyed so she attacked with Dokote grabbing Kohaku's arm. Kohaku had quickly thrown the dog off then created a sand shield that stopped Imahi's attack. From that point, Kohaku finally got serious. Unfortunately, that back fired on Imahi. The fight went on for a while longer till Kohaku was finally able to capture Imahi in his sand coffin then started tightening it till Imahi could hardly breathe. He didn't want to kill her, but he kept making it tighter and tighter till she passed out from loss of air in her lungs. She and Dokote had put on a brave fight, but Kohaku had been too strong and overpowered her. Kohaku, of course, was the winner and Imahi was taken out with Dokote. Hideki and Daiske had been upset their teammate hadn't made it past the first round, but they couldn't let that bother them. After that fight, it was finally the last match in that round. This was between the last mist shinobi, Shinata, and Hukadoshi from the sand village. Both of them were long range fighting styles and the fight took longer than most of the others. Hukadoshi was a master marksman who never missed his target while Shinata had his large weapon that could cut through anything. In the end, Hukadoshi's arrows kept getting destroyed by Shinata's weapon before they got even close to the target. Then, when Hukadoshi was finally out of arrows, Shinata used his weapon to ride upon it and attack the sand ninja that way. By fusing his chakra with the weapon's already fast speed, it made it fly even faster. It was too fast for Hukadoshi and Shinata leapt off it and tackled Hukadoshi to the ground. He grabbed his weapon then smashed it into Hukadoshi's leg, twisting it till it went clear through the leg. Hukadoshi screamed in agony and grasped for his leg furiously as the blood continued to gush out. The fight was over at that moment. It was far more important to get Hukadoshi into the medical room than for the fight to continue. Genma claimed Shinata the winner and announced the second round to commence.

The first match was Daiske against Akane. Again, Daiske used his sensing technique to allow him to see the attacks coming. Akane was clueless as to how she should take Daiske on, which was her downfall. Every attack she made he was able to escape it or destroy it before it could hit him. Eventually, she was all out of chakra from all the jutsu she tried. Daiske took that to his advantage and used a doton style jutsu that created a boulder to smash into her. She tried to evade it, but it was too fast and she was too tired out so it made contact with her. Daiske was the winner once again which made the crowd roar even louder than before; including Sasuke and Sakura. They couldn't have been prouder. Then it was Hideki fighting against San from the sand village. This fight was a cinch to him compared to the last one and he was easily able to counter her sword movements. San became angry and tried to attack using a special technique with her sword where she made a barrage of slashes at Hideki. Since she was so close, it was easy for him to punch her down. Then he used the fire lotus jutsu just to tire her out a bit more before he finally managed to knock her out with a kick to the gut then a hard punch into the ground. His victory was declared and he couldn't have been any happier. The last match of that round went quickly. It was the sand ninja, Kohaku, against Shinata from the mist. Just like before, Shinata's weapon was easily able to cut through Kohaku's attacks and struck him down multiple times. Kohaku had created a sand armor to protect himself which crumbled away quickly with each attack. At the last moment, Shinata was able to create a wall of water from his mouth that pushed Kohaku into the wall of the arena. In the same second, Shinata threw his weapon at Kohaku and was able to pin him to the wall. Kohaku was beat from all the attacks and even had a hard time breathing he was so out of breath. So when Kohaku tried to attack again, all Shinata had to do was throw a kunai surrounded in sharp chakra at the sand ninja that cut into his ankle, causing the bone to break and Kohaku to go down. It felt like all too quickly the fight was over and the third round was on its way. As a rest period, they stopped the tournament for a couple hours to let the final genin have some time to rest.

The twins each sat on a bed next to each other as they were tended to by the paramedics. Sasuke and Sakura had gone to meet them and hugged their sons tight.

"You two were fantastic!" Sakura exclaimed, smiling brightly at her sons.

"Thanks, mom," Daiske said as he grinned in her direction.

Beside him, he could feel Hideki's energy go from excited to almost upset. The change had happened so quickly it surprised Daiske. He felt confused and couldn't guess why Hideki seemed down all of a sudden. Sasuke and Sakura must have noticed because they both approached Hideki.

"What's wrong, Hideki?" Sakura asked with a concerned tone.

Daiske thought for a moment as he tried to figure out what was going on. Then it hit him. "We have to fight each other…"

Both parents looked at him with raised eyebrows. Hideki sighed. "Yeah, I really don't want to fight you."

"And I don't want to fight you. What are we going to do?" Daiske asked as Hideki shrugged.

"Maybe if that Shinata kid takes one of us out before the other, then we wouldn't have to fight each other," Hideki said.

At that moment, there was a commotion from across the infirmary room. Shinata had lost his calm attitude and had begun to yell. "No, I'm not fighting them! They will obliterate me. Besides, I'm out of chakra," he yelled. He was trying to keep up a strong, but Daiske could feel in the boy's energy that he was actually scared to face off against them. In his energy, Daiske could feel that the kid doubted himself and didn't want to take the chance at fighting. "Plus, I am bound to lose. If you think those two are going to fight against each other and me instead of fighting against me together, you're wrong! I know my limits and I know when it's a helpless situation. I forfeit the match!" After that there was a bunch of moaning then Genma appeared from behind the curtain and approached the Uchiha boys.

"Shinata forfeits, it'll just be you two in the final round," he told them.

Hideki could feel himself begin to panic. He didn't want anything to come in between him and his brother and felt that if they fought, he would be forced to beat Daiske and their bond would be damaged. He couldn't let that happen. "Daiske, I can't fight you. If we fight, the victor will only regret it and I can't stand to let our bond fail because of the fight. I'm gonna have to-."

"No, Hideki. I'm not going to let you quit that easy! We are going to fight in this match, we can't just give the tournament up. I love you as my brother and I will not let my brother quit! If you say that word, I will too and neither of us will win. There won't be a last match and we won't have another time to prove ourselves. It was my resolve to fight or give up and since you want to give up, I will give up too. But if you want to fight, we'll see each other in that arena and we'll both give it our all. If you beat me, I will still look up to you; our bond won't suffer from this fight, I promise. Now I can't control if you still end up quitting, but please give it another thought. We fight, or we both lose, it's your choice," Daiske said. And he meant every last word. Hideki wasn't going to forfeit the match that easy.

Hideki stared at his brother then looked away. He still hated the thought of fighting Daiske, but he hated the thought of Daiske forfeiting just because of him even more. What was he going to do?

Chapter Sixteen

The Final Round

It was time for the final round to commence. Sasuke and Sakura were back in the stands with everyone else. Everyone looked toward them questioningly as they noticed their expressions of dissatisfaction. It was Shikamaru who spoke before everyone else.

"What's up with you two? It's not like they're going at this alone, they do still have that Shinata kid. Who knows, he might take one of them out before they have to fight each other," he said as he tried to make them feel better. He understood that they hadn't wanted the twins to fight each other so this was the worst case scenario for them.

Sasuke shook his head. "Shinata forfeited, it's just Hideki and Daiske now."

Everyone stared at them then looked at each other. They understood now. There was no chance for one of them to get struck out before they had to face each other; they were going at it from the get-go. Truthfully, though, this fight was quite ironic.

Up in the Hokage's booth, Gaara and Naruto sat in their chairs as they watched the tournament. They had both been intrigued by the matches and every one of them had kept them completely enchanted in them. Naruto was especially interested in Daiske. The kid was like him in a way, having all these odds against him and now he's pulled ahead of all the rest. This last fight was going to be fun to watch but uncanny.

"This is something else, Naruto. It's kind of hard to believe the Uchiha twins are going to fight each other. It reminds me too much of Sasuke and Itachi," Gaara said.

Naruto nodded. "Me too. I just hope those two can hold up after this. I've noticed that this is kind of a reoccurring theme for the Uchiha."

A moment later, Genma's assistant came into the booth to whisper into Naruto's ear. "Shinata has forfeit the match, it will just be between Hideki and Daiske Uchiha."

Naruto stared ahead as he was completely shocked at the news. He could only nod as the ninja vanished. Gaara saw the look on his face and got concerned. "Something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine. It's just… Shinata forfeited the match," he said.

Gaara understood at that point. "Oh, wow. Who would have thought?"

Down in the arena, Genma addressed the people in the stands. Even though this wasn't the fight Hideki and Daiske wanted, it sure would be what they wanted. It was what everyone was hoping for coming at last. "Welcome to the final round of the Chunin Exams! Let me bring out the genin participating in this fight." Hideki and Daiske walked out and stood in front of Genma as he put a hand on each other their shoulders, looking at them reassuringly then looking back up to the prospectors. "Unfortunately, Shinata from the Mist village has forfeited the match. The final match will be Hideki Uchiha versus Daiske Uchiha!" The crowed screamed and roared.

Hideki sighed and looked at his brother. He hated this. Daiske turned his head toward Hideki and they met eyes. Then they finally turned to face each other as Genma finished his speech. This was actually happening.

"Daiske…" Hideki began but Daiske held his hand to silence him.

"Like I said earlier, you say it, I say it. We're in this together, Hideki," Daiske said as he kept his blind eyes on his brother.

Hideki shook his head. "We don't have to do this, Daiske!"

Daiske smiled at that. "I know, but I want to. I want to fight you, Hideki. Now, what will you do?"

Genma looked from one to the other. This was really getting interesting.

Hideki clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes shut tight. When he opened them, his sharingan was activated and he said; "If that's how it is, then fine. I'll fight. May the best twin… no, Uchiha win!" The crowd roared in excitement again as the two brothers faced off.

Genma smiled and nodded then gave the signal. "Begin!"

Daiske quickly deployed his technique onto the field and concentrated on his brother. He could feel that the sharingan was activated by Hideki's chakra so he had to be on his toes. All of a sudden, Daiske could feel the shift in the atmosphere and he knew it was a genjutsu. And knowing his brother, it was likely that the genjutsu would target his other senses. He was right and he noticed how it was harder to hear what was going on and he couldn't feel the energy around him. Being completely sightless like this was scary to him. Also, he knew that he would have to either counter it with his own genjutsu or try to target the source. But since he wasn't able to sense anything, he would have to counter it with his own genjutsu.

Once that thought crossed his mind, Hideki came out of nowhere and punched at Daiske's stomach. Daiske crumpled over in pain as he coughed from the impact. As soon as he had landed on the ground, he jumped away as fast as he could. He knew there would have been a kick coming next. Still not being able to sense where Hideki was, another attack came from behind him, knocking him back down. The attacks were too quick and with Daiske's lack of sensing ability at the moment each of them landed a blow which sent him falling back again. This could not keep going on or he would definitely lose. Daiske coughed again, this time coughing up blood. He panted as he forced himself to stand. He made the half hand sign for his technique. He thought that if he did that, he might be able to find his flames with his chakra. The boy concentrated as best he could on the flames, but he came up short as Hideki knocked him down again.

"Sorry, Daiske. I don't want to do this, but I have no choice," he said. Daiske could hear the pain in his brother's voice and knew this was tearing him apart inside.

But the sound of his voice alerted Daiske as to where Hideki was located. No sooner had Hideki finished what he was saying had Daiske finally took the offensive and ran at his brother. Daiske was too quick for Hideki and ended up catching his brother right before he was able to fully evade him, kicking him in the stomach and falling back into the ground. At last, the genjutsu was broken and Daiske could sense again. He smiled.

"It's alright, Hideki. I'm the one who pushed you into fighting, I knew this is what might end up happening. Unlucky for both of us, we know each other's weaknesses and strengths. That's how I knew just a little knock onto the ground would break the genjutsu. Now I can sense again," Daiske said, running at Hideki again.

Hideki watched Daiske as his brother ran at him. This fight was hurting him inside and he wished it didn't have to happen. But the fact Daiske was able to break the genjutsu like that aggravated Hideki. He stood up and ran at his brother, grabbing his fist then spinning to throw Daiske away. As soon as he was about to let go, Daiske grabbed his arm then kicked up. His kick connected with Hideki's chin and threw him back. As he stood up, he panted heavily then ran at Daiske again. This time, he created a substitution and let it go at Daiske instead of him. Like he suspected would happen, Daiske attacked the clone which gave him a prime opening. He rounded the back of Daiske as he weaved hand signs. The attack by the substitution would take Daiske's mind off of him and let him have the chance to sneak up on his brother. He stopped at the Tiger seal and blew a ball of fire at his brother. Since Daiske would be distracted and not paying attention, Hideki thought that the fireball would hit its target; but he was wrong. All in that same second, the fireball smashed into Daiske and Hideki's clone as Daiske appeared behind him. It happened too fast for Hideki to evade and he ended up being punched into the air. How had his brother gotten so fast? As he looked up, Daiske appeared above him.

"You're probably wondering how I'm faster, right. Well in order to get my technique going, Takimashi put me through training that helped me gain more energy. She also had me go through some weight training with Gai which, of course, has helped me become faster. You're the only one who has made it so I need the speed, that's why I haven't shown it yet," Daiske said with a smile. Then he spun in the air and kicked Hideki back down. His brother plummeted back down to the earth and smashed into the ground. And once Daiske was down as well, he punched Hideki in the back. The punch was so strong the blow managed to crack Hideki's ribs. Daiske stood next to his brother and had his head bent down so his blind eyes met with Hideki's.

Hideki couldn't help but glare at his brother and clench his fists. His brother was so much stronger than before and now he was beaten. At that moment, he hated Daiske and was more jealous than ever. He groaned in pain, hardly able to move, and mumbled weakly; "Congratulations, Daiske. You… won." That last blow had knocked the wind out of him and since he had had to use the genjutsu and the fireball, his chakra was too low and his body was in immense pain. Just breathing sent immaculate pain shooting through his body. Any more of this, and he would completely unable to move or even speak; he would have been obliterated. It was clear at that point that the match was over and what had seemed to be his victory at first quickly changed once Daiske broke out of the genjutsu. If he had been any different, he could have easily taken out his brother while the genjutsu was still working but he didn't have the heart. He couldn't take advantage of Daiske like that; his body wouldn't have let him.

Daiske's eyes seemed blank as they looked into Hideki's. He felt horrible for beating his brother like this. He just hoped that the judges had liked what they saw and would still let Hideki pass even if they didn't let him pass. Genma came over and took a look at Hideki and nodded. He faced the crowd and held up Daiske's hand to them. "The winner of the final round is Daiske Uchiha!"

The crowd roared, everyone except two. Sasuke and Sakura looked on in silence as Daiske turned his head to the crowd. They both saw the hurt in his eyes. Sasuke couldn't help but stare at Hideki. It had been hard to watch their sons fight like this and he hated that they had had to do it. He also hoped that this defeat wouldn't affect Hideki negatively. If it did, the two brothers could begin to grow apart. He knew how it was to hate your brother and even feel envious of them; it never ended well. Both of them stood up to leave to go to the infirmary and make sure Hideki was going to be ok. Neither of them spoke a word as Hideki was picked up on a stretcher to be taken to the paramedic's room. The arena then began to empty out as the judges left the stands. They would have to discuss the matches and tell the kages their decision. Daiske had left with his brother as they both would have to be looked over. The chunin exams were officially over.

Ichiru grinned. The show had impressed him and he enjoyed watching them fight till one no longer could. This kind of a sight intrigued him; he loved watching others struggle for their lives. And that last fight! Truly remarkable. He had been rooting for the blind kid, especially since he obliterated Hoku. Ichiru had known Hoku would lose and knew that the Kyakugan in his brother would be weak. His pathetic piece of trash of a brother was a weakling. Furthermore, that Hideki kid. That boy possessed the Sharingan and Ichiru saw some great potential. Not to mention the look in his eyes after his twin brother defeated him. The jealousy and envious look that pooled up inside them. He knew those feelings could make ones emotions and resolve weak and he wondered if he could use that to his advantage. After all, the Uchiha Brother's Curse was alive and well deep inside the recesses of that boy's mind. Not to mention the fact that his sensei is none other than Takimashi, the protector of the sword he needed. He laughed to himself. This was turning out to be perfect.

It was two days later and Hideki sat by the edge of the water of the pond he and his brother sometimes trained. The fight stuck in his head and he couldn't shake the feeling he had after it ended. That feeling of hate and envy was not like him. He knew there was nothing to feel envious about. Everything had gone the way he had expected it to turn. His brother was great at strategizing and was a very smart shinobi. Also, his sensing technique was amazing and unexpected. But he himself also had things his brother didn't, like eye sight and the Sharingan. Both of them had great powers that would help them become great shinobi. Daiske was his brother and loved him. He shouldn't hold grudges against his brother, there was no need to.

"I saw your fight, it was quite amazing," said a deep voice that made Hideki jump up and whip around to see a tall man standing there with a grin on his face.

Hideki took a step back wearily. "Who are you and what do you want?"

The man laughed. "Just a passerby that admired your skill you showed in the exams. You have great potential, you know that, right? I can see you becoming a great shinobi," the man said, still smiling. "Though to me it looked like your brother is a little bit stronger. Plus, he is blind and if I'm not mistaken, there is that whole Uchiha brother's curse."

Hideki turned his head slightly and looked at the man through the side of his eyes. "What do you know of the curse?"

The man shrugged. "Just that one of every pair of brothers ends up trying to steal anothers eyes for the sharingan. Though I can't remember the exact reason why… Oh, that's right! It's because they were blind." The man grinned evilly and stepped closer to Hideki. "And, oddly enough, Daiske is blind and he's your brother. Now isn't that just ironic."

Hideki glared at the man. "What does that have to do with anything?"

The man laughed. "You fool. Your parents have raised you ignorantly haven't they? Here, let me play it out a little for you. Your brother is blind, he can't have the sharingan. You, on the other hand, have what he doesn't. Also, let's not forget the fact that your brother is getting stronger and stronger by the day. I mean, look back on your fight with him, he obliterated you! It's only a matter of time before he-."

"No! Daiske would never do that…" Hideki said, shaking his head in disbelief. How could this man even dare to bring that up?

"Oh, you say that now, but he will. It's only a matter of time before he gets tired of never having the sharingan and he will go seeking for the power. And what better place to find that kind of power than his own brother's eyes? Trust me, one day he will come after you and he will take your eyes, it's your fate! Can't you see? Daiske was born blind for that exact reason," he said, laughing again. The look on the boy's face was priceless. The way he looked at his feet with eyes wide, his hands clenched into tight fists as his body slightly shakes. "Go on, let it sink in. You know this is correct and you know it will happen. It's just a matter of time. Come with me, and I can help you become strong enough to be sure that never happens, understand me? I give you a week to decide, see you then."

At that moment, the man was gone and Hideki was left standing there. The man was right about one thing, Daiske wished he could have the sharingan too and he was getting stronger and stronger. The fight was only one example of his increasing strength. But would his brother want the sharingan so bad he would go to those measures?

Chapter Seventeen

Falling Apart

It was another sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. The day was a great day, but Hideki couldn't seem to enjoy it. Ichiru's words rang loudly in his mind as he and his family went to the Hokage's office. Naruto had sent for them because he had some good news to tell so they were all on their way to meet with him. He couldn't even begin to guess what the news was about, but he chose to focus on that rather than what that man had said. He knew his brother, Daiske would not do that to him. But the suspicion kept nagging at him.

Now they stood in front of Naruto as the Hokage greeted them happily. "Sasuke, Sakura! It's been such a long time since last," Naruto laughed his goofy laugh as he usually did. "I have some great news!"

Sasuke put a hand on his hip and smiled at Naruto. "Hmph that is why you sent for us right, knucklehead?"

Naruto glared at Sasuke. "How many times do I have to remind you that I'm the Hokage now so stop calling me that!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Sakura pushed him playfully. "Oh stop, you two. Come on Naruto, spill it. What's the news?"

Naruto giggled then sat in his chair. He leaned back and put his hands behind his head and looked right at Daiske. Daiske could feel his gaze and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "The results from the exams are in. And Daiske? Congratulations! They loved all of your performances and it was unanimous, you are now promoted to Chunin!"

Daiske grinned and punched the air. "Yes! I passed!" he yelled out in excitement. Sakura grinned and hugged Daiske tightly.

"Oh, Daiske! I'm so proud of you!" she said happily.

Hideki looked at his brother and mother hugging as he waited to hear about him. When it was too long for his name to be called, he looked at Naruto with a confused expression then approached the Hokage's desk. "What about me? What did they say about me?" he asked, his voice shaking as he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He already guessed what the answer was going to be.

Naruto looked at Hideki with a sympathetic look then looked at the papers again. He tried to find the results for Hideki but came up short. He shook his head sullenly and looked Hideki in the eyes. "I'm sorry, but you did not pass the exams."

Hideki's eyes widened as it sunk in. He knew he wasn't going to like the answer. His hands fell to his sides and he looked down at his feet.

Sasuke gazed at his son. The look in Hideki's eyes alarmed him, though he didn't let it show. It was only natural for him to feel bad for his son so he wasn't able to help it. Everyone else watched Hideki too. Daiske put a hand on Hideki's shoulder.

"Hideki, I'm sorry. I'm sure you'll make chunin in no time," Daiske said with a soft smile.

Hideki pushed his brother's hand away then walked out of the office, not looking at anyone. Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes while he shook his head slowly. Daiske was about to run after Hideki but Sasuke stopped him. "It's ok, Daiske. I'll talk to him. Sakura, why don't you take Daiske for a treat? A little congratulations present."

Sakura nodded then left with Daiske. The only ones left were Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke could feel Naruto's stared but ignored it. He looked at Naruto with a concerned expression. "Thanks for the news, we appreciate it."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, no problem. What's up with Hideki?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm not sure, but judging by the look in his eyes… I have to go and talk to him," he said, leaving the office as Naruto watched him leave.

Naruto felt concerned. He remembered how Sasuke had changed so quickly before he finally left. The memory bothered him so much it made him wonder if there was something darker happening here. But that was absurd. It was just the news about the results that were getting to Hideki; it didn't feel good to be put down like that. He just hoped that Sasuke would be able to help his son cheer up.

Sasuke found Hideki on a lonely street that had no one on it. He quickly realized that this was a part of the old Uchiha compound that was still intact and not taken over by new people. The place brought back memories. Hideki finally stopped and looked up at the sky. Sasuke approached him cautiously. "Hideki, is there something wrong?"

The boy turned and looked at his father then down at his feet. "No, everything's fine. It's just… I was looking forward to making chunin…"

Sasuke sighed and put a hand on his son's shoulder, kneeling down so he was eye level. "Hideki, you will make Chunin, alright? You have a long time and many opportunities."

Hideki looked away. "But Daiske… he's gotten so strong, am I going to be able to catch up? Everything always goes so well for him."

Sasuke stood back up. "Hideki, you are just as good as your brother, understand? You two work best as a team; that fight was a onetime deal. Don't beat yourself up for not making chunin today, there's always tomorrow. You will make it, I know you will."

Hideki sighed and shrugged, still looking away. "I guess."

Sasuke sighed and kept his eyes on Hideki. He understood how Hideki was feeling; he had felt the same with Itachi. It was hard to live in another's shadow no matter how close you were to them. Also, he couldn't help the feeling that there was something more. "Come on; let's catch up to your mother and Daiske, shall we?"

Hideki nodded then followed his father quietly.

The next day, Hideki was out throwing shuriken at the training area he had spent much of his time during that month before the final exam. He was still bothered by everything that had been happening and had even begun to close himself off from others. His parents had been worried about him ever since the day before and they and even Daiske kept trying to cheer him up. After a while, he started putting up a front and made himself seem happy even though he still wasn't. Ever since Ichiru, and even more since Daiske was named Chunin, his mind had been clouded. The feeling was just about unbearable and he was close to breaking down. Now that Daiske was chunin, that just put more emphasis on the strength difference Hideki couldn't help but notice. Furthermore, that technique was such a daunting jutsu that allowed Daiske to do things similar to Sharingan. But what if that wasn't enough? What if Daiske eventually got tired of only having that jutsu and really did go after the power of the sharingan? All these thoughts made it seem as if the Uchiha Brother's Curse was unavoidable. And he and the rest of his small family had been so sure about it not happening again. But what if they were all wrong? Hideki grinded his teeth together and punched at the tree in anger.

"Easy there, don't want to harm yourself. Do you, Hideki?" said a familiar soft voice.

"What is it, Kakashi?" Hideki asked, not even looking his way.

Kakashi stared at Hideki. This mood was not the Hideki he knew. "I was just walking around and happened to find you here. So, why are you here for?"

Hideki turned to look at Kakashi. The jonin's question got on Hideki's nerves even though they didn't need to. It was just a harmless question. "I was bored so I came out here for some self-training, that's all." It was a lie.

Kakashi knew that by the look on his face that was not all there was to it. "You sure that's all? Cause you seemed pretty distracted for some self-training. Everything alright?"

Hideki looked away from him with a grunt. "Everything is fine. There is nothing wrong with me."

Kakashi didn't believe him for one second. This wasn't how Hideki was so he knew there was definitely something more. But he decided it was best to not try to dig in deeper and instead shrugged it off. "Very well, see you later then." Then he left Hideki alone.

Hideki shook his head and began to walk home with an annoyed expression on his face. He didn't need people like Kakashi getting into his head. He knew what the reality was and that reality was that Daiske would not steal his eyes. He had to keep hold of that thought and push it away. Going with Ichiru was not the way to go and he knew he had to stay in the village and grow into the shinobi he dreamed of being. If he wanted to make the Anbu, he could not afford to get over absorbed in Ichiru's words; he had to keep ahold of himself. He finally went home to find Daiske walking out of the house. His brother looked in his direction and smiled faintly.

"Hey, Hideki. How are you feeling?" Daiske asked innocently.

For some reason, the question made him angry. "Will everyone stop asking me that? I'm fine, ok?! Just stay out of my business!"

After that, he walked briskly past Daiske who turned to follow Hideki. "What was that all about? I was just asking how you were."

Hideki whipped around furiously to look at Daiske. The anger he felt seemed to fly out of his eyes towards his brother like daggers. He blew up again, this time causing their parents to come out to see what the yelling was about. "Will you just stop, Daiske?! I don't care if you're chunin now, you're still a defenseless blind loser that thinks he's so great 'cause he's up a new level! I will not be talked down to by you! You want to be Hokage so bad, but you're blind! No one is going to take you seriously and no one will ever want you to lead this village! Now butt out of my life, Daiske," he yelled, going to his room and slamming the door shut.

Daiske stared in disbelief toward the direction of his brother's room. He didn't understand what had just happened, but those words really hit home. His brother never says those things to him, so why now all of a sudden? He let his head drop as his body started shaking. The feeling of tears threatening to escape his eyes was annoying and unexpected.

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other then tried to comfort Daiske who was still shaking. Sakura looked at her husband. "Sasuke…"

Sasuke looked back at her then looked away. "It might be better to let him be. We can talk to him about this later when he's calmed down a bit."

Sakura nodded. She was confused about what had just happened between her sons and it concerned her. The situation didn't make sense to her.

Later on, the family sat at the table to eat dinner. Hideki came out and sat next to Daiske, making as little eye contact with everyone as possible. He sat down across from Daiske.

"Daiske, I'm sorry I blew up at you. I've just been having a bad time lately," he said with a humorless laugh. The real reason was because his thoughts were consuming him and it was making him angry at himself.

Daiske shrugged. "It's ok…"

Hideki just nodded. Sakura brought in the food and set it down for everyone to get what they wanted. As they were getting their plates, Sasuke looked at Hideki. "Hideki, what's been going on? Why are you acting this way all of a sudden, it's not like you."

Hideki shrugged. "I can't say why, I just need some time."

Sasuke shook his head. "No, Hideki. You need to get it out, I know you do. So tell me, why are you acting like this all of a sudden?"

Hideki stared at his plate. He knew everyone was looking at him but he ignored their stares. He sighed in agitation. "Ichiru came up to me yesterday… He told me that the Uchiha curse was unavoidable and that Daiske was going to steal my eyes so he could have the sharingan… Said that he'd get tired of only having that technique but not Sharingan and that he was strong enough to actually take them."

Sakura gasped and Sasuke snorted then looked away. Daiske stood up and turned his sightless eyes toward Hideki. "What? I would never do that, Hideki. You know I wouldn't!"

Hideki looked at his brother. "But how do I know if that's not going to change? Neither of us has the ability to see the future! It could easily change!"

"No, Hideki. You know better than that. Daiske, sit down," Sakura said sternly.

Hideki stood up quickly, pushing his chair onto the ground as he stood. "How would you know?! You can't see the future either, what if Daiske does do that, huh?! Oh, that's right. Daiske's the baby; he could never harm a fly. Why don't we give Daiske a plaque with his name on it for being such a good kid? But Hideki, oh no, he's much different. He's not blind!"

Sakura stood up too and looked at her son. "You stop that, Hideki. You know better than that!"

Hideki interrupted her before she could go on. "No, you have always cared more for Daiske! Both of you! Just admit it, mom! You have always favored Daiske more than me!"

Sasuke couldn't take any more of this. He stood up and confronted Hideki, losing his cool. "Do not talk to your mother that way, you hear me? I never want to hear that from you again. We all love you deeply and care for you, Hideki. Your mother and I have done our best to give the both of you the best lives you could have had. We care about you both equally and want to see both of you thrive and live healthy lives. I never want to hear that again!"

Hideki turned on his father. "No! You may have tried to give us the best, and I'm grateful for that. But you two have always cared for Daiske more! All those years of training him, you didn't have the time for me too. Our teamwork training? Yeah, that was great; but what about my individual training?!" Hideki yelled, walking away. "I'm going to my room; don't even bother to check on me!" A moment later, Hideki was gone and the sound of a door slamming shut echoed through the house.

Sasuke sat down, looking at the table. What just happened? And the fact that Ichiru went after Hideki like that, what was his motive? This was not good. Hideki never acted like this so he knew that whatever Ichiru had told him had really hit home.

They ate in silence from that moment. No one could say anything, they were still in shock over what just happened. When he was just about finished, Daiske pushed away from the table. "I'm going to check on him. I need to talk to him," he said, leaving the table. Sasuke and Sakura didn't say anything, just let him go.

As Daiske neared the door, he called out for his brother. "Hideki, can I come in?" There wasn't an answer. "Come on, Hideki. Please, talk to me. Let me in, will you?" Still no answer. Daiske sighed in agitation then burst through the door anyway. "Hide-," he stopped speaking at once. Something wasn't right, where was Hideki's chakra? His scent? There was nothing there, just an empty room. His heart began to pound as he felt cold air coming through the window. He began to panic then yelled for his mother. She came running and he could feel her frantic energy.

There was a long pause as she registered what was going on. "Hideki?" she asked.

Sakura looked around the room, but no sign of him anywhere. Then she noticed a piece of paper lying on the bed. She picked it up and read it, dropping it to the ground as she screamed out. "Hideki!" He was gone.

Sasuke rushed to the room and gasped as he saw the window open and the room empty. Sakura turned to him and threw herself at him, hugging him closely as she cried into his chest. He hesitantly hugged her as he saw the note. He broke the hug and picked it up. It was in Hideki's hand writing.

_I'm so sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to blow up like that. I love all of you more than anything, but I can't stay in this village. I need to find my own way, which is clear to me now. I will miss you guys more than anything. ~Love Hideki_

After reading the message, Sasuke stared at the wall. He slowly turned his eyes to look at Sakura's stricken expression as she stared at him, tears rolling down her cheeks. Then he looked at Daiske who looked confused as everything sank in. "We have to go to Naruto," he whispered, turning to leave. Sakura walked next to him, hugging him tight as she sobbed into his shirt. Daiske slowly followed after them. _Hideki, why?_


End file.
